Sports Minister Brent Sancho and TT Olympic Committee (TTO C) president Brian Lewis have both congratulated the TT athletes and officials in Beijing for their medal successes at the World Championships.

In a media release yesterday, Sancho responded, “What a way to end the Championships! The disappointments suffered by Team TT earlier in the meet have been turned into joy and adulation as Trinidad and Tobago mounts the podium for the second time this Independence weekend. Setting a NR also shows the tremendous resilience and determination with which the athletes ran.

Trinidad and Tobago is proud, and supremely proud of you — Jarrin Solomon, Renny Quow, Lalonde Gordon, Machel Cedenio and Deon Lendore.

We also congratulate the NAAA and all the athletes’ support staff on the success. May it continue into Rio 2016!” Lewis is in New Zealand representing the TTO C and the Commonwealth Games Association at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in Auckland.

Admitting he missed the TT women’s bronze medal performance, he said it was great for women’s sprinting in TT .

“I am delighted for them, in particular KellyAnn Baptiste and Seymoy Hackett who endured a torrid and difficult two years,” he said. “Their resilence and indomitable will to put those difficult days behind them is to their credit.” Lewis also paid credit to Ato Boldon, who joined the coaching team in Beijing, and president of the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) Ephraim Serrette.

“Lets build on this,” he continued. “As I continue to call for greater collaboration and cooperation and alignment between national sport organisations, TTO C, Ministry of Sport and Sport Company. Lets ensure our athletes get the support they need when they need it. Not when they win medals.

Rio 2016 is less than 365 days away.”

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The voting power of countries which have hosted the Pan American Games on multiple occasions is set to be significantly diluted under a new Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) Constitution.

A proposed version of the new document - which has been approved by the PASO Executive Committee for circulation, but which remains subject to input from regional National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and approval by the PASO General Assembly before it can enter effect - currently contains two options.

The first of these amounts to a simple "one country one vote" formula; the second would permit a second vote for past Games hosts, but only for elections to determine where future events will be staged.

Present rules give past Pan American Games hosts up to five votes in both host city and Executive Committee elections, including the election of the President.

These rules tend to favour the region’s bigger nations.

Comments prepared by the President of PASO’s Legal Commission note that the Executive Committee has concluded that the existing voting structure is “not sustainable”.

In a move that might be interpreted as an attempt to ensure there are no surprise outside candidates at next year’s Presidential election, the working document also contains wording insisting on three years’ experience as a top NOC official “immediately preceding” a Presidential candidate’s nomination.

Julio Maglione, the 79-year-old Uruguayan who is completing the late Mario Vázquez Raña’s term as PASO President, has promised not to seek the role on a permanent basis.

Those who are thought to be considering running for the position include Carlos Nuzman, President of the Brazilian Olympic Committee and head of the Organising Committee for Rio 2016, Ivar Sisniega, the first vice-president of PASO, who formerly led Mexico’s National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport, José Joaquín Puello of the Dominican Republic and possibly Richard Peterkin, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) member from Saint Lucia.

The working document, which runs to more than 100 pages and has been seen by insidethegames, proposes a three-term - ie 12-year - limit for the PASO President, but not for Executive Committee members.

It stipulates that the “headquarters registered office” of PASO be in Mexico City, while stating that it may be transferred to another location “by decision of the Executive Committee”.

It states that, while the official languages of PASO are Spanish and English, it is the Spanish text that will continue to prevail in case of conflict.

It spells out that the Pan American Torch is to be lit pre-Games at a special ceremony at the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico; the current version says merely that the ceremony should be in Mexico.

The new document is the combined result of work by the Statute Amendments Commission and the Executive Committee.

Proposals for changes to the current wording are to be considered before a final document is presented to NOCs for approval.

Once the final wording is adopted by the General Assembly, the text must then, in turn, be approved by the IOC.

Source

Silver ! Silver ! Silver ! Silver !

Silver was the colour yesterday on the final night of the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China. It was delivered to this country by four brave men on a damp night where clouds threatened rain. A torrential downpour sent many scampering for over three hours.

On the track, though, it was the opposition that was sent scampering as T&T’s quartet of  Renny Quow, La Londe Gordon, Deon Lendore and Machel Cedenio, woke up 70,000 persons in the Bird Nest Stadium with some quick times over the four legs of the mens 4x400 metres relay final, only to lose to the more experienced USA team, anchored by 400 metres silver medallist, La Shawn Merritt.

T&T finished second in a new national record of 2.58.20 , eclipsing the old mark of 2.58.34.

 Quow  again ran the opening leg and gave a much improved performance after his struggles in the preliminaries.

He handed over to Gordon who ran  the race of his life. This powerfully built man with the heart of a lion, roared his way forward and made up the stagger. Turning into the home straight, he ran past the American to hand the baton to Lendore in first place.

 Lendore led all the way, handing over to Cedenio in first place as T&T chased gold.

Running into the home straight, Cedenio was in third, falling behind  Jamaican Javon Francis and Merritt, but he did not panic. “I know that is the strongest point of my race. I was calm, I know I have enough leg speed to catch them, so I was still good.”

Although he passed Francis, he could not go past Merritt.

Lendore, who was the first man off the track after the race, said he and his teammates were very happy to give the country a silver medal on the eve of Independence.

 “After the prelims, we knew we had a great chance of medalling and we came out here and delivered. Our strategy was to get to run from the front. We wanted to run free, and to see the best we could do from the lead,” Lendore said. “We started off great and we are happy. We all gave 110 per cent and we have seen the result. It made us all proud,” added Lendore.

Quow was also ecstatic about the performance, describing it as well  executed. “We had a good race plan and did what we wanted to from the beginning. We wanted to hit them from the beginning so we would not have much work to do and that is what we did.”

Gordon was not happy with his start even though his finish was marvellous. “Once I cut in and messed up a little. I let the USA man (Tony McQuay) get into the lead but I just kept my focus and said I will pass him on the homestretch and that is what I did,” he added.

Cedenio belied his youthfulness. “We ran second to a guy who medalled in the 400, so that was a very good performance . Every single one of the team ran good, especially the lead off.  Renny, La Londe, Deon, we all came together. We had a tough decision in picking the team but we came together finalised it and we felt this was the best team to get the medal here tonight,” noted Cedenio.

T&T ended the Championships with two medals, following the success of the women’s  4 x 100 metres team of Kelly Ann Baptiste, Michelle Lee Ahye, Reyare Thomas and Semoy Hackett, who won the bronze medal on Saturday.

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Nineteen-year old Machel Cedenio was delighted at his silver medal in yesterday’s 4 x 400 metres relay at the World Championships here in Beijing. “My first senior World Championships and I got a silver medal. That is really good. I want to thank God for bringing me here today with my teammates. We all have a good bond and we all have a team chemistry.

“I hope that people keep supporting us. We are out here to do our best for our country. We love all our fans.”

Cedenio, who also finished seventh in the men’s 400 metres, paid tribute to the parents who have supported all of the T&T athletes. “We thank all of you for your support  because track and field has really improved in our country,” he added.

Cedenio, together with Renny Quow, Deon Lendore and Lalonde Gordon, finished second behind the United States in the event yesterday.

Lendore, who has been recovering from injury this season,  also called for more support going forward. “I want to thank everyone. I am happy that people are able to hear what we are doing.”

There was a poignant moment during the celebrations when Lendore found time in the mixed zone to address youngsters from China who gathered to watch the returning athletes. Lendore took off, not only his number tags, but those of others and gave them to the children. Their joy was something to behold.

Yesterday’s silver medal also focused thoughts on the Rio Olympics. Gordon stated: “What happened here tonight will send a message that we are serious next year. We will take some rest, refocus and get ready for next year.”

Quow was also aiming at Rio. “The plan is to be ready from October to August. We are just going to work hard and do what we are accustomed doing. (AB)”

Source

In spite of the paucity of medals at the World Championships, president of the National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA)  Ephraim Serrette believes there is no need to panic.

T&T won two medals, both in relays in the Championships which ended in Beijing yesterday.

Serrette noted that the T&T women who won their first ever 4x100 metres medal at a World Championships showed that the future was in good hands.

“Our women, based on what we have seen here, can go under 42 seconds and even change the colour of the medal in the future.”  

Serrette said while Jamaica will be hard to beat, the USA can be anything at times. “Even though they did not use some of their top runners  this time, we ourselves are developing a strong pool with Kai Selvon set to come back.”  

Serrette believes that the bronze medal success was a shot in the arm. “We needed something like this for our women athletes. I don’t know how we can explain it but we continue to lose our female athletes particularly the young ones in the under 18 to under 20 group. So we have to see how we can use this to inspire them to stay.”

He said it amounted to the athletes and the Association working together. “We are a listening organisation, we understand the needs of the athletes but there is always some restrictions in terms of funding which together we need to work on. We have a very good relationship with the president of the Olympic Committee,  Brian Lewis, who is also athlete driven,” said Serrette.

“We also have to make some of our athletes aware of the need to have patience. There are those that want it all to happen too quickly, they want the success overnight,” noted Serrette, himself a former top athlete in the 80’s.

Serrette was also pleased that the 4x400 metres team stood by each other and broke the national record.

“This was about guts and performance. This was the highest level and we have to fully appreciate what was done here tonight. This was another national record so we have to continue our programmes and progress our athletes further with all the assistance   we can get,” he added.

“Our plan is to review our performances and take the necessary action to improve what needs to be and to address other areas of concern that would have arisen at the Championships,” stated Serrette. (AB)

Source

On behalf of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) I extend best wishes to Trinidad and Tobago as we celebrate our 53rd Anniversary of Independence.
As the TTOC strives to be an athlete centred organisation that builds on public,private and social partnerships that widely benefit Trinidad and Tobago as a nation.
Our commitment is to contribute to building a peaceful ,sustainable and prosperous nation through sport .
At the TTOC we believe that our nation's youth and young people are at the heart of everything we do.
As our sportsmen and women push boundaries and challenge limits to deliver medal winning performances, their acheivements inspire  the youth of our nation in a transformational and impactful way to realise their own aspirations and ambitions.
Let us be bold,ambitious and optimistic about our future as a nation.
Let us harness,embrace and embed the power of sport to make a positive difference and a force for good.
Happy 53rd Anniversary of Independence Trinidad and Tobago.

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