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By the time I was ready to turn in on Sunday night, my pulse rate was back to normal. And, like the Buddha you encounter at the entrances to many Thai restaurants, I wore a silly grin, like a man whose appetite was sated.
No, I did not overeat: I was overfed with athletics performances—and it was only Day Three of nine days of track and field events at the Rio Olympics.
(Copyright AFP 2016/Wired868)
Usain Bolt, who has stamped his authority as the greatest sprinter ever, almost gave me a heart attack by trailing druggist Justin Gatlin up to the half-way mark in the 100 metres final. Then he delivered, in style—but I was nervously massaging my chest!
Earlier, in the 400 metres final—in which we had a stake in the youthful Machel Cedenio—and a kith-and-kin interest in the form of Grenada’s Kirani James, we were treated to one of the most spectacular quarter-mile races in history.
In the 43-or-so seconds one had to watch the race develop, most eyes were focussed on the duel between joint favourites LaShawn Merritt and James. Few observed South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk, cast into the difficult Lane 8, run the race of his life, which, by the 325-metre-mark, would change dramatically into the best 400 metres race in our lifetime.
It’s not as if keen athletics fans like me, who monitor all the competitive meets year-round, and dig into the statistics, were unaware of Van Niekerk’s tremendous achievements by age 24. He has been among the top in the IAAF’s 400-metre rankings for the past few years.
And, at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, he beat Merritt to claim gold in a stunning 43.48 minutes.
(Copyright Fabrice Coffrini/AFP 2016/Wired868)
Even more impressive, Van Niekerk is the only athlete who has run sub-10-seconds in the 100-metres, sub-20 in the 200, and sub-44 in the 400. The boy was destined for greatness.
On Sunday night, I imagine all of us hoped that 21-year-old Cedenio would somehow run past the favourites to win a medal. Or, failing that, Kirani would flog Merritt.
But it was the South African wunderkind—looking neither left nor right, only straight ahead, and running like a man possessed—who broke Michael Johnson’s 20-year-old record of 43.18, clocking an astonishing 43.03!
And to think that up to 1990, with apartheid still law in South Africa, talents like Van Niekerk’s will have remained buried under rabid racism.
As I sat watching this spectacle in shock, I noticed Kirani fend off Merritt for second place, and saw Cedenio place fourth, at long last breaking Ian Morris’s 24-year-old national record with a deserving 44.01. Next stop for Machel must be a 43-point. At age 20, his prospects are boundless.
Cedenio finished fourth behind South Africa’s Wayde Van Niekerk, Grenada’s Kirani James and the United States’ LaShawn Merritt.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
Now, only Keshorn Walcott and Michelle-Lee Ahye remain in contention for an individual medal. Cedenio and Ahye will also have another realistic shot in the men’s 4×400 and the women’s 4×100 metres relays—and that’s it for track and field.
Look, I applaud local Olympic Committee president Brian Lewis for trying to psyche up our athletes and sports administrators with his mantra of “10 gold medals by 2024”. Brian is well-intentioned. But it takes more than good intentions to pave the track to Olympic glory.
How does one rationalise Cleopatra Borel’s effusive boast, after she finished sixth in the shot put finals, that after three Olympics, she had achieved her dream? With the greatest respect to Cleo, you go to the Games to win, not to “make de finals”.
That mentality of glorifying mediocrity, or worse, aspiring to it, is one reason why our achievements have been… well, ordinary.
Wendell Mottley, Edwin Skinner, Benedict Cayenne, Edwin Roberts, Hasely Crawford and Ato Boldon shone brightly in their time in spite of governments and administrators, not because of them.
(Courtesy TTOC)
The athletes of today are showered with largesse for achievements that, in other countries, merit only thanks and some assistance, preferably through scholarships, and encouragement.
Let me put this as politically correct as I can: if Bolt were a T&T athlete, he would own half of the country, gifted to him by grateful governments. If the other Jamaican superstars were ours, we’d have to annex or conquer Grenada, St Vincent, maybe even Venezuela, to reward them with mansions and estates.
Get my point?
I have always loved athletics, so my interest in the Olympics has been there since my boyhood. I support my country’s athletes once I know they are working hard to achieve the loftiest goals. I extend my support to Caribbean competitors, since I see the region as one.
Most of all, though, I admire and support athletes who perform superbly—be it a Bolt, a Diekerk, a Kirani, a Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price who has done us proud in three Olympics, or an Elaine Thompson, the new sprint queen.
If speed, strength and stamina be the pillars of satisfaction, race on, give me excess of it…
Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson celebrates winning the Women’s 100m Final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on 13 August 2016.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye is second from left.
(Copyright: AFP 2016/Franck Fife)
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Raffique Shah is a columnist for over three decades, founder of the T&T International Marathon, co-founder of the ULF with Basdeo Panday and George Weekes, a former sugar cane farmers union leader and an ex-Siparia MP.
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You buy your children half their booklist? Don’t expect them to come first in class. Lol.
But you’re right Justin. We have to make the system more efficient to serve sport better.
I’m still fine with constructive criticism and holding athletes to account. They must be able to justify their own behaviour and performances too. Just with some level of realism.
We are not sending them to win clearly. But we aren’t sending them to lime either.
Our overall performance is a reflection of the leadership in T&T sports…
I’m with the athletes. I have no problem congratulating effort even if it doesn’t bear fruit. I think we are pretending to be a country that gives its athletes an optimum training environment, and expecting them to perform optimally. The problem is the country not the athletes- everything can be traced right back to corruption- resources plundered and power abused. That’s what causes a country to have no standards and no vision. Coaches wouldn’t help- they’d tief his salary, fire him, choose another, less capable athlete – and then cuss them both. If our athletes can overcome all of that, then making a final IS an accomplishment. Money into athletics without getting rid of thieves and buffoons won’t help I don’t think. Why don’t we apply the same “no excuses” standard to all other endeavors in this place?
..Ok Lasana. It ‘s not personal and I don’t want to belittle any athlete. But the question is why are we trailing the best Caribbean countries? Lack of talent? Poor training? Not enough ambition? Failure of balls?..
That’s absolutely fair. We need accountability. Including for athletes.
Maybe some could have given more. But look at Semoy Hackett for instance. She made the 100 metre and 200 metre semifinals and you can see she pushed herself hard.
Sure, she would probably count as “mediocre” if you gauge her with the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser. But I’d be heartless if I slammed her when I can clearly see that she is putting it all out on the track.
At her best, she is among the top 20 sprinters in the world but not the top eight. That’s still something.
..Athletes to blame too. We give people a pass to easily. Some of them not even pushing hard. Giving up. ALL credit to Machel and Michelle. Kishorn to come..
My two cents I wouldn’t want to blame the athletes, they think they are doing their best.. The standards really need to be set at the top first, from the Ministry Sport through all sporting bodies/organizations.
Loris my position becomes available in November, please feel free to apply…. and make it better….. i dare say that most Federations try their best given the circumstances… almost every federation involved in Olympic sports will have elections in the next twelve months.. here is the historic chance to make a difference…
Hey I understand that the conditions and circumstances are not what they should be.. I am quite confident you will be successful once these change for the better..
Don’t forget the TTOC
Yea Thema’s a case in point.. I guess if the athletes were given adequate support, there are established standards, they are selected and then they don’t perform, then we can only blame them…
hahahah Lasana… btw the sporting organizations have standards… that is called Olympic qualification…. in my sport Triathlon the Manual for that is some ten pages for the final stage….
Standards include management, accountability.. providing necessary support and training…
Exactly. Here I was wondering if only I thought this. Thank you sir.
I realised it was just wanted him to add that.
“With the greatest respect to Cleo, you go to the Games to win, not to “make de finals”. I was seriously bothered by her interview and the ‘compliments’ that followed. It’s a HUGE part of our mindset with sports that must be changed… not as individuals, but as a people. Good piece.
And the New Zealand thrower is awesome too.
You seeing the fight in Cedenio and Ahye.
For those who were following her races before Olympics. You can see thst she pushing really hard and been doing well.
Agreed Paula.
Cleo really showed excitement to be in Brazil lol compared to focusing on fighting to win… I get what you saying
Lasana Liburd this is not school work. It’s sports. We play to win ! If you don’t win, hard luck. Go back to work and figure out how to win. It’s not hating or condemning. Support, absolutely! But we play the game to win !
I don’t mind that at all Eric. Nothing against criticism either. Just not personal attacks.
But we do accept that some children can realistically aspire to 70 percent in their exams and some can realistically aspire to 100 percent. Right?
I don’t mind if a 70 percent child is happy with 70 percent. Likewise, I would be unhappy if a child that could manage 100 settled for 70.
I accept that..it’s not about being unrealistic, it’s about the approach. Anything could happen in a final- injuries, form, foul throws- that could open a window of opportunity, but it would be hard to grasp it if you’re just ‘happy to be there’.
Keshorn won gold with an ’85’…I don’t think much people thought that was a winning throw, given the field. But I’m sure the Cuban had him ‘throwing to win’ and not be ‘happy to make the finals’. That’s why he won, he was able to grasp that opportunity.
I like Cedenio’s run, Ahyee too.. they are playing to win, no matter the field, so if that ‘door’ opens, they are there to take it..even at 70% 🙂
Having said that, Michelle Carter’s very first throw in the shot put final was beyond anything Cleopatra ever managed. The top three competitors were just on another level. Just like Wayde, LaShawn and Kerani.
But your point is valid that you must always put your best foot forward.
Yea dude, there’s no way she was beating her that night…Carter was in beast mode…lol
I can understand where the guy is coming from. In my opinion Trinidad and Tobago has an attitude of accepting mediocrity in almost every sporting event we participate in. It’s a mixture of a few things one of it being exposure. Mentally our athletes (well most of them) don’t believe they can compete with other athletes from foreign countries. Making a final or losing by 2 goals rather than 4 goals is deemed an achievement…. this imho is bull s*** . Our coaches and managers have to hold us to higher standards but to do so they have to also set a standard with a higher level of coaching to balance the call for better performance. So the guy griping bout rewarding mediocrity but the real question is what can we do to improve our coaching inorder to demand more elevate us to a higher level of consistent performances.
An ok motivator are the incentives that the TTOC introduced for the Olympic games. “The medal bonus for Rio 2016 Olympics in Brazil will be US$10,000 for an individual gold medal, US$8,000 for silver and US$5,000 for bronze. While in the relay it will be US$20,000 for gold, US$15,000 for silver and US$10,000 for the relay bronze.” That’s a start. TTOC needed to add an incentive for setting National records and an additional bonus on the gold medal bonus for setting world records!
Very true Kenneth.
Still, 99 percent of athletes at the Olympics don’t medal. So maybe we shouldn’t be too extreme either.
Maybe the IOC should just forget the medals, give everyone a gift bag and some candy for showing up….
Lasana, let’s help Michelle, Sorrillo and others get a bonus incentive from setting National records at the Olympic games. you are in a better position at the moment than I am to make that happen>>>
I’m not saying to give tangible rewards to everyone who shows up Tanya. I just won’t call everyone a failure for not medalling.
They were not good enough to medal. Sure. But I won’t disparage them for it. The first time Keshorn went to an international youth competition, he was eliminated at the group stage.
He then knew what he needed to do to improve and did it. So we can benefit from setbacks too if we take them in the right spirit.
And will do Kenneth. 😉
Tanya did you celebrate the achievements of the soca warriors in germany?
No
good at least you consequent….
Lasana Liburd It will not be easy because most do not consider breaking the National record to be worth bonus money. There is, however, a few who look at National record breaking bonus money as an incentive.
Of course TT is glorifying mediocrity, has the country ever embraced meritocracy? TT is giving its athletes kudos for just turning up at the Olympics, for chrissakes, it’s as if the country simply does not understand that an athlete’s purpose at the Olympics is TO WIN A MEDAL….
..But the Jamaicans and Kishorn provide a real example. They don’t rely on the US colleges. They are home bred. By home coaches. THAT is an example we must emulate..
Keshorn had a Cuban coach. But fair point.
We have to provide incentives and know how for local athletes and coaches as a general rule though.
..BRING what expertise we don’t have but let us rely on ourselves..
Jehue was also local, and did well.
It really hurts when local teams complain about fitness for instance. And professional teams too. That stings.
Jehue had a Cuban coach too. Ditto.
The PP seemed to have a mission against Cubans for whatever reason.
..And Cedenio is local too..
I remember one school principal at a prestigious school complained that when they started having national tests in almost every form, there was a big and notable increase in the number of students that enrolled in sport.
So you are right Jeremy Francis.
Why must our children compete with each other for registration in secondary schools?
Education isn’t American Idol!
The Ministry of Sport isn’t the only problem. Most schools (and parents) take their kids out of sport around SEA time (as far back as Std 4)- academic success ranks way higher than sporting achievement at that age.
By the time kids get into secondary school- unless that have been in a club, will fall behind- unless that are exceptional.
There shouldn’t be an SEA exam to begin with, we need to work on establishing zoning for school registration so that we don’t have to subject small children to the stress of competing for spaces in secondary schools.
Pick your battles Vernal Damion Cadogan, lol
Boy…..is war on all fronts! LOL
..Behind Jamaica..
Did Thompson give up? I’m not sure. I still think Thompson’s performance at the London 2012 Olympics in the relay was one of the best I’ve ever seen.
He was sixth when he got the baton and the top three were nowhere to be seen. He ran his heart with little obvious chance of a medal and came in fourth… Now that fourth place has been upgraded all the way to silver.
Now consider how wonderful T&T would be if our public servants and so on had that attitude…
.Yes. Yes. But I talking about Rio..
Yeah. I said I wasn’t sure about Rio. Will have to watch that one over. But oh gorm, I don’t miss a chance to talk about that London run. 🙂
??? I only hear about Jamaican Runners… actuallly sprinters… and admitedly they are top in the world there… what else?
..They’re diving; hurdling; road running, steeple chasing; bob sledding; what else? And what we doing?..Watching them..
..Oh! And long jumping. High jumping. Sigh..
medalls?
particularly the bob-sled… medals or was that just for cool runnings?
Keith sorry to disagree with you on this as i usually share your opppinion…. but this looks like double standarts based on the fact that Bolt and co on the 100 and 200 consistently bringing home gold…
..Not even getting to the issue of medals. They are involved in events we don’t participate in. Their programme is so much broader than ours with it very narrow focus on a few events. Why is that? Trini lack of ambition and comfort with the familiar..
i agree with you on the lack of ambition in general, the program in Trinidad is not less than in Jamaica though, it is just not very easy to qualify an Athlete for the Olympics as a minimum standard is to be met, if you ever had taken part in the prep meetings for major games at TTOC you probably would be aware of that…. that standard shall ensure a reasonable quality of competition… (meaning every Athlete may have a Reasonable expectation on medaling). Btw i following the German TV commentary as i do not like the usual bias by American and British commentators and the Germans are usually quite objective and believe it or not but they also say that an athlete has fulfilled expectations by making it into the final etc if that was a reasonable expectation, they do not chastise the Athlete for not bringing home a medal.
and mind you we had Athletes in Judo, Rowing, sailing, swimming aside of Athletics….so the program is not as narrow as it seems… its just that people dont seem to look that way…
..I hear that. But we trail the Jamaicans man. And that’s shit when you compare their resources to ours. But they have more of the most important resources than we do – Ambition. National pride. And Belly..
Agreed on the ambition and pride…. not so sure about the resources…. aside the alternative is to not send athletes at all if they cant make the final…. mind you that the Olympics is a final of a years long qualification process and therefore cannot be considered as mediocre as well as the fact that in a lot of sports the difference between first and last is sometimes seconds or centimeters…. i think that someone who manages to qualify for the Olympics has already manged to prove that he/she belongs to a small group of very talented Athletes in the world….. question into your field: using the criteria of not standing a chance to come first, why are we sending the soca warriors to Germany and celebrate their achievement? Lasana and Keith?
..Yes. Qualifying for the Games is an achievement. Undoubtedly. But when you get to the Games you have to look the part. Our people, even the world level performers with Olympic medals, for the most part have not. Indeed, some of them looking real bad. Giving up . Coming in last or close to last. Nah man. We deserve better than that..
That may al well be true, but you did not answer my question about the Soca Warriors… lol
The Soca Warriors were not embarrassed in Germany eh. Lol. They drew their first match and were cheated in the second and only conceded in the last 10 minutes.
But, yeah, we were never going to “medal” there.
I agree with Keith that when you get there, you have to try to look the part. That sure it ent easy though. You can’t park the bus in track and field! Hahaha
who says that the Athletes competed at the Olympics were embarassed? Several could have done better, maybe even a lot better… but ask the Brazilan Volleyball or Beach volleyball team about that…. the German women Hockeyteam…. and i’m sure there are many more that expected to come home with metall in the suitcase and noow will not…..
..Sorry Andreas. Olympics or World Cup we have to look the part. We must be seen to be performing at max. The Soca Warriors did in Germany. Couldn’t ask them for more..
Track and Field is a hot piece of Asphalt and the difference between in and out are often less than a second… not making excused, but i dont think that any athlete from anywhere ever goes to the start with a i doh give a crap attitude…. not at the olympics anyways…
Keith im not following you here? and how have you determined that the Track and field Athletes in rio did not?
..You saw Njisane give up? You saw Thompson and them others trailing the field? Men who won medals previously? If that is their best both of us should go next time..
Historically Wasn’t Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica neck and neck in Track and Field, but only through Ja’s passion for the sport, that they have taken it further Than Trinidad and Tobago could ever Go, just through National Pride and Love for Country alone??!!! TnT was never dis backward when it comes to track..seriously!!
Diving? Really?
Yona Knight-Wisdom is UK born and bred. He chose to compete for Jamaica probably because he couldn’t make the British team.
Jamaica as a country really gets credit for his success? Jamaica really gets to boast that it has a diving program now?
They beat us in gymnastics too
..Yeh. Trini Keron Clement is part of the US programme. Jamaica went to the WC with a bunch of English – before we went with one. A Cuban won a medal for Spain last night. Need I continue? They doing what they have to. Meantime we ole talking. Gold medal..
Well if searching out foreign born and foreign based athletes who can’t make their home country’s national team is the route to national development and pride, government really shouldn’t invest any money in facilities, coaches, programs etc here.
Better take than money and send scouts around the world…
..That’s clearly not what I am saying. Indeed, quite the opposite. We need a strong domestic programme that doesn’t wholly rely on the US collegiate system. And we need to judiciously recruit talent from the Trini diaspora…
I think the problem is people only looking at one sport and saying we as a country are mediocre compared to others in the region.
If you want to single out one sport and say others in the region are better than us, then fine. There will be evidence to support or dispute that.
But where are we and the rest of the region in every other sport?
still behind!!!
Yeah, I missed all of these regional athletes who placed higher than Cleo or Felice or Dylan.
Guess I’m not paying attention.
My bad.
Wow!! i Thought the Olympics was to compete with the World and to win..Not with Regional Athletes, they have Carifta for that………no matter how anyone tries to cover it or put plasters on anything , we have been failing consistently for yrs ..with all these stadias and centers and etc……we consistently lack the required resources to churn out what is required to compete internationally… only egos and pre historic developments!! is nurtured in Trinidad and Bago
This is how the discussion went:
1. One of the article’s thesis statements was about the mediocrity of our athletes.
2. I said I don’t think sixth at the Olympics counts as mediocre.
3. Others said that mediocrity is relative and that compared to other countries in the region, we are mediocre.
4. I said I think ppl are only looking at one sport to characterise us as mediocre and I don’t think it’s fair to label the entire country’s athletes as mediocre based on one sport. And then I asked where we are compared to other countries in the region in other sports.
5. You responded and said “still behind!!!”
6. I replied and said I missed the regional athletes who beat some of ours.
7. Now you’re telling me about competing with the world.
????????????????????
Well we are talking about Olympics, even doh some may wanna say or use Ja as a bench mark.i don’t really.lol i see we are still behind totally…. but i understand how the discussion was going, but i was more speaking more on World context rather than Regional!! cause is not carifta we participating at!! Lol
So you saying we mediocre compared to the world? Lol.
Ok.
Well after the Olympics, let’s take a look at the medal table and we’ll see how many countries aren’t mediocre compared to the “world”
Time for Trinidad and Tobago to take sports seriously. Time for the proper facilities and BETTER funding from PRIVATE SECTOR and government.
The Ministry of Sport is one of many that get called out annually by the Auditor General. And they carry on as normal.
So I better not see Darryl Smith trying to get on his high horse until he sees about that.
Employees of the amusement park can only ride on their days off or after work! LOL
And that right there tells the whole story. The fact that the Auditor General flsgs a government Ministry ANNUALLY for financial irregularities and nothing further comes of it perfectly reinforces my point and is a metaphor for our nationhood as a whole.
Superficiality we have all the institutions of an actual nation, but the fact that none of them function proves that they are designed to be nothing more than a facade.
Essentially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is nothing more than an elaborate movie set for the production of a movie about a fictitious Caribbean nation, and all of the citizens are nothing more than extras on the set.
So in short, as I have said, Is not a real country eh
No it’s a country themed amusement park.
Hahahaha
I eh getting no ride tho, free or otherwise. Is only stress
Lasana we need to really onvest in sport and tha investment needs to begin early. That commitment to investment must continue uninterrupted particularly after regime change. Another obsticle to progress is our inability to show much interest in any one area of development for more than 9 days, that’s why we’re always starting over.
And then we must never forget that government investment in sport has always been one of our crooked politicians most lucrative rackets.
..”Mediocrity” is not absolute. It is measured in relation to something. A standard. When we look at the RELATIVE performance and results of Jamaica, Bahamas, Grenada, ours is decidely MEDIOCRE. And that is being CHARITABLE. But you can’t say that in Trini because we have an infinite national capacity for self-delusion. It is a small minority of our athletes (in the broad sense of the term) that is even close to world level. And many of those who we thought were at that level have been exposed to no longer be so. Them’s the facts..
So we are talking about mediocrity in relation to the world’s absolute best athletes then? That should be clear. But fair enough.
I think sometimes it isn’t self-delusion but just ignorance. People may not be aware of the different factors that make the difference between first and last.
..Self-delusion Lasana. God is a Trini..
For instance, Keith. We speak of self-delusional. But then Cleopatra is criticised for perfectly assessing her capabilities and grasping the limits of her potential.
How can we criticise unrealistic expectations and realistic ones at the same time?
..I do not refer to the athletes. I refer to the people. Including the TTOC and their delusional goal of ten gold medals by 2024. Good Lord man, after all their heroics Jamaica still only have four! Ok. So they will add to it in the next days. But without a serious development and international programme, where them ten medals coming from?
Brian Lewis has a tough job ahead of him for sure. This Games was bruising for him too as TTOC president.
Keith Look Loy i actually agree with you.we have been mediocre for many years!! now imagine if Ato didn’t decide to bring Khalifa on board for Trinidad etc..we would be bare as we are bare in the male department of Development…..but all of this is at the head.!! i won’t actually blame the athletes but the head of the Organisations that run the sport..cause if they are mediocre, you cant expect the athletes to be excellent??can you.?? eg: carifta during the years where we have regress so drastically that even the President is under the illusion that we are ah head of the track when it comes to development…..!!! Sports in this country is Vikey Vikay, No Professional Structure. beside half assing it on Development!!
I think a big part of the problem is we need clear perimeters for what sporting excellence is. And then rewards consistent with that.
Too much emotional, spur of the moment action when it comes to rewarding real sporting heroes.
For instance, we know what Brian Lara got for cricket world record. Suppose Machel Cedenio broke the 400 metre world record? What then? We should probably know some of this before.
The first thing we need is a sense of self worth and stop living vicariously through foreign lives, then we need genuine national pride because Trinidadians don’t necessarily think of themselves as one unified people therefore we can’t be truly proud of ourselves. Then we need to adopt a healthy work ethic in order to aspire to success instead of seeing underhandedness as a means of achieving it and we also need to accept that the only thing separating Jamaica’s consistent athletic triumphs from our regular athletic failures is the belief that we can be just as great as any other nationality.
It’s no different to someone winning the lotto, then spending all of the winnings on the celebration. Apart from the fact the athletes take years to receive any of these things, the money would be much better spent on development at the grassroots level.
I still toting, because I was one hell of a sprinter in primary school, lol.
There you go!
The mantra of those who perform consistent and win consistently is… “Winning is an attitude; Champions repeat!” We have to step up our game… we really have to do so in order to achieve our goal of 10 GOLDs in 2024.
And I don’t see anything wrong with the way our Olympians are rewarded.
Gold medalists get house and land (and maybe a national award)
Silver and bronze medalists get a poorly maintained facility named in their honour (and maybe a national award)
Others get applause… Halfhearted it seems.
Perhaps….but do we aspire to reward personal limits or encourage athletes to do the best they can? Or do we reward athletes who achieve on a global platform…’achieving’ 70 percent maybe worthy of personal applauding if that’s the limit of the student’s potential…but if it doesn’t quite measure up to global success, what exactly is encouraged/rewarded?
I think we can have different tiers of reward for if someone sets a national record and if they get an Olympic medal.
A personal best should be something the athlete always aspires to. We applaud that but you won’t get a house. 🙂
It must be noted that Cleopatra is at her best under Walcott’s coach so that must say something to Trinidad and Tobago. She was not on the finals in the last two Oympics but was able to make the finals this time.
I don’t think sixth at the Olympics qualifies as mediocrity.
Where there any bits you agreed with in the column?
I understand your comment/point but it is mediocrity in other countries and to other athletes! Therein lies the difference between World champion or Olympic champion and simply just competing.
How can coming sixth at the Olympics be mediocrity in other countries and to other athletes when the majority of Olympians don’t even make a final?
Chabeth Haynes You won’t understand. You have to have been competing at an advanced level in track and field or any other sport in order to understand. When you get a chance, have a chat with athletes. Then and only then you will understand.
Chabeth actually is involved in sport herself Kenneth.
Producing national athletes, national record holders, and regional medalists of all colours but I wouldn’t understand.
Still can’t say how sixth at the Olympics is mediocre when the majority of athletes don’t make a final but carry on with your brand of condescension and sexism.
Lasana Liburd I did not get the same feeling from her I have gotten from others. Sorry if she feels anyway, but I am tired of us glorifying sub-par performance, wasting millions on farce sports programs that fool the people of T&T into complacency. We need to step it up. Hold people accountable and demand improved results. Our leaders in sporting organizations are too thin-skinned and defensive when constructive feedback are offered. They are poor examples for our athletes. They need to be replaced, now.
I think we all agree on that. About having accountability and a thirst for excellence.
Keith said “mediocrity” in this piece means in relation to the other top athletes in Rio. I can understand that.
But we still have to be respectful to the athletes. Most athletes do not have gold medal potential.
I think it’s very unfair actually to say that we praise mediocrity and to refer to the athletes as such. The thing is in this country the governments are not supporting their athletes. Many who even make it outside to participate in the Olympics get there from the money they have in their own pockets or the people who give them financial support. There are 4 years of potential training time and you might hear of funds going their way in the year of the Olympics…daz madness!
We might condemn the fact that Russia had national use of banned substances in their athletes, but then at the same time one could respect it. Why? Because on a national level it means that much to them. From babies to competing ages these kinds of countries put out what they need to do…it’s serious business!
So people praise the efforts of our athletes because coming 6th with no real support is truly an amazing feat! and it must be respected. These individuals and their families sacrifice big time. And that’s the only way they get there.
Our whole budget needs to be re-thought. We close our stadiums from as early as November to March just to accommodate Carnival fetes…really?? And where are our athletes supposed to train?
I’ve been back in Trini or almost 11 years and when I arrived there was supposed to be an Olympic pool built in cocorite….still doesn’t exist.
The governments spend a fortune on Carnival when really all of 10 people (according to Forbes) are profiting off of the events. When really if we want medals we should invest in our athletes. Jamaica has done it…what’s wrong with us? And now you have athletes like Usain who can demand that advertising is done in Jamaica, thus creating opportunities for his people there outside of sports.
I mean how many years done have to hear how much is being spent on the rental of empty buildings? And not small money ya know…millions!
We have coaches that are so out of date it’s ridiculous! So many athletes are including yoga for example into their training programs and recognizing the power of a strong mind…strong lungs to compete at world levels…not here…yoga is for gays! That’s the BS you hear. I watched a gymnastics school train the other day and watched a coach ask a 7yr old which is your bad knee…at 7??? If they are injured at 7, where the heck are they going? And when i looked around almost every kid had a knee brace on..wha?!!! I swear Thema was an anomalie which is why is sucks even more that she didn’t get to go.
So yeah we praise our peeps and yeah they not winnin’ any medals, but doh insult the athletes…we need to blame the powers that be for spending/pocketing money on shite! And ignoring the needs of our athletic community. #jussayin
Another school of thought is once you achieve an Olympic A qualifying standard, you cannot be considered mediocre again.
I appreciate the general tone of Raffique’s piece of course. And he made some excellent points including the way we reward our stars sometimes.
But I do feel the term mediocrity for an Olympic finalist is a tad harsh.
That’s all we do… glorify mediocrity! Someone finishes last… everybody comments “well done” “you made us proud”. When someone offers ‘constructive feedback’, he/she is labeled non-patriotic, a hater, a troll… When an athlete complains about the less than adequate support he/she is receiving, he/she is chastised and in some cases blacklisted and exiled… Give me a break
There should always be room for constructive criticism.
There are two extremes in this that we should avoid.
you mean criticism like “listen to your corner” and “keep yuh guard up”? stupse this is going all downhill
Lol. That would definitely be constructive criticism Ravi.
NOOOOO that would be basic rules of engagement
As far as Cleopatra Borel goes, not every athlete has the same potential. I see nothing wrong in applauding a student who has the potential to score 65 percent and makes 65 percent or even 70.
I do agree with a lot of what Raffique says. But I’d disagree on that point.
I won’t quibble over the name of the funding, although I would say we should be doing more to help athletes who have the potential to be elite…
The US is looking to tax its Olympic winners. We want to reward our losers.
But when yuh get beatup like we boxer did, is only up to yuh have to look
Beautiful article….could never wrap my head around the ‘elite athlete’ title when very few if any have done anything ‘elite’
When yuh not accustomed to coming first, coming fifth starts to look like an achievement.
http://www.all-athletics.com/current-rankings?evtg=4 how could we say that our athletes who are ranked among the top in the world are mediocre??? Some Trinis are really ungrateful dogs
Boy you telling me they are disgusting!! So many people don’t reach that far but their minds are sooo only medals mean the athletes are good.
Yeah trinis are bandwagonists for the most part…a couple of months ago they would’ve been tellin you that LeBron James is “a shithound”.
Smh it’s soooo annoying to watch “adults” make the comments they do and feel as though they made a valuable contribution….. They don’t know what SUPPORT means
For real….I’ve never watched womens olympic rowing prior to aisha chows races…now ah like it too bad!!
..And based on these Games we just running in most events – not competing..
..Thank you!..
On the athletic track we can compete internationally up to 400M after that we can’t even compete regionally in any middle or distance event. Other Caribbean countries have athletes competing at international standards in these events.
..DAT is man! LOL. This “everybody is a winner” BS doh work for me..
Lol
The other day here in the US, one the major NFL quarterbacks (don’t ask me who they all look like large hulking bears to me), wrote a blog piece about how his 12 year old son’s football team participated in a regional tournament, and each player got a small trophy, the father was adamant that this was inappropriate, and gave back the trophy to the officials, telling them that you don’t praise people for participating, their purpose as a team is to win …. and I get that
And that is Americs, competitive to the last, determined to be the best.
Isn’t that what sport is about determined to be the best?
Comedian Dennis Leary once famously said “Sport began when one caveman turned to another and said I’m better than you and I can prove it”!
Indeed….international athletics is the pinnacle of rugged competition, not for the faint hearted or those prone to hand wringing…..
I think the inherent difference is that in TT they reward people for effort and in the US, they reward people for output…
Change will be hard Mrs Adams. You’d have to negotiate with a longstanding system and assure it it won’t suffer, just won’t profit as much. That’s the only way you can take the steps necessary to nurture a people who have a reasonable sense of right and wrong and who will accept a shared vision doesn’t mean anyone will have less.
4 years and hundreds of stolen millions from now we will have this discussion again. Trinidads problem is it has no identity, and will not look for one. Do we even like sports? Are we a sporting nation? We are hustlers, looking for an angle, vain and greedy. We want to be Los Angeles but okay with a few people strealing Hollywood. So we’re bound to end up frustrated. The people in this country who MAKE things are invisible- writers, calypsonians, masmen. When last did one of our “business” people INVENT something? Where’s the panmen? My point is we have to start from scratch again I think. We celebrate people who do nothing more than recycle our oil and gas money amongst themselves- and denigrate everybody else. If I was writing about this, I’d have to begin with where these athletes came from-the infrastructure available to them, before I could assess where they reach. Same with our “dependency syndrome” rubbish. The media the professions the public service the health and education systems and the conventional mentality is corrupt. And sport isn’t alone in feeling the effects of that I don’t think. Just my view.
We have an identity, we simply refuse to acknowledge it. Foreigners see it clearly though, and we become conscious of it when we travel.
Sport is a useful microcosm. Because there is a finish line where people say definitively how you did.
There will be no such of gauge of say the Minister of Tourism. And that is where our athletes have it harder than most of the rest of us.
Vernal I’d like to know what our identity is.
I fraid to hear.
It would be easier to point out who we are not. Look at a map, notice all the other countries, we are the one that isn’t them.
We are the sum of our histories, we are the sum of our varied origins, we are our unique traditions, we are our unique cuisine, and we are the sum of our many varied celebrations that we all naturally know are our own.
Vernal, you giving us a Faris there or wot? You practicing to pass the bar?
Give us the thing straight! ???
I’d have to differ. We are hardly the “sum” of any of those things- you only need to look at the electoral division to see that. And for too long we have been confusing cuisine and culture for an identity.
Do we not have basic shared values?
The problem was he tried to wax too lyrical there Justin. And he ran into the sweet talkers’ problem. Lol.
I think we are largely a shallow people who distrust each other and don’t get how we fit into the wider ecosystem.
We playing checkers and everyone else playing chess.
Wait, I’m starting to sound like Vernal. Lol
Absolutely not- what are our shared values? We don’t even agree that everybody should be educated, housed and treated. Some think that’s “socialism.” We have no agreement on social issues- gay rights is an example. We do not agree on anything. And I don’t mean just don’t agree- I mean we are absolutely symmetrically divided.
But there are some values we do share, they just aren’t all good.
Maybe our shared value is to be disagreeable. Lol.
I actually do think that all the tribes on this island have something in common though. I’d agree with Vernal. It is “me first”.
Perhaps you’re right. It’s complex. There you go
Political immaturity and lack of appreciation for the collective runs deep I think. And lack of caring for the less fortunate too.
Lassana not sure you’re describing Trinidad and Tobago alone ….I live in the US (the epitomy of me, myself and I) but when competing on a global scene they are driven (almost to an insane level) to have the name USA top the standings on every level and they absolutely work their nuts off to do it.
The story was written before her qualification actually. But fair point. I will actually make an edit on his behalf.
Tell Raffique that Michelle is in the 200M finals.
The Ministry of Sport can start by satisfying the Auditor General and the Gov’t can start by going after that LifeSport money. Hard to take them seriously otherwise.
Lasana we in 2016 nearly a year and no mention of any action to he taken. Look nah. We serious in this place, if the ones in charge then walking around normel normel, partying in d open. It says a lot
Thank you Raffique
Rafique shah, only now wondering that! Horse bolt long time. We’ve been doing so for a long time. We gave the soca warriors land and money just for reaching the World Cup, not for winning a game or scoring a goal or meeting any performance targets, and we just give away stuff just so. We do it purely because our politicians try to gain points by those actions and for no other reason.
The Warriors didn’t any land. They got a million divided into cash and Unit Trust shares. But I do get your point.
It is wrong too that politicians dream up reward on the sport but for reasons that have nothing to do with the athlete.
Sporting excellence should be rewarded. We just have to be able define it consistently and reward appropriately.
Thanks for the correction Lasana
Your point still stands Brian.
Where in truth and in fact governments should be encouraging the private sector to invest in these athletes whether it be using them for as campaigns etc so that the burden from tax payers will ease up.
Keith Look Loy same with the arts. But part of the problem is government bureaucracy. Everyone I’ve spoken to has said that the process to see that rebate is mired in red tape and the payments are very slow to come in. Combine those two factors and you get two industries – sports and the creative sector – ripe for development and in need of investment, but struggling. Jamaica can teach us a lot on both fronts.
..Truth is that, by and large, the private sector don’t care about sport. They have had a tax incentive for the last donkey years – one hundred and fifty percent on every dollar they spend on sport – and they STILL not interested. The issue is not only financial. It is philosophical..
That can only mean they don’t pay tax to begin with Keith! Hahaha.
I can imagine that umpteen business jefes have a good laugh at that on the golf clubs or wherever they hang out.
..It sad..
30 million dollars is joke to the squandermania in sport ,performañce targets ,we made it to the world cup ,which was the most single historic feat in the history of football .they deserve it .