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Get in allyuh lane!
Trinidad and Tobago got its Commonwealth Games adventure off to a curious start this morning, as 25-year-old sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye carried the flag for the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee’s (TTOC) contingent at the Carrara Stadium in the Gold Coast, Australia.
Ahye—or, as Mr Live Wire calls her, the “Tattoed Tearaway”—recently threatened to halve her duties at the Gold Coast after an unseemly social media exchange with former Olympic track star and current coach Ato Boldon.
(Copyright Adrian Dennis/AFP 2018/Wired868)
Boldon, while railing against the bizarre exclusion of his own athlete and rising star Khalifa St Fort, referred to “lane fillers” in the sprint team and the “Speed Sister” retorted: “Since I am just a lane filler, let me focus on individual event and not relay.”
Almost certainly, the decision to hand the flag to Ahye is an attempt to heal potential internal rifts and simultaeneously offer a vote of confidence to the maligned sprinter, who finished sixth in the 100m and 200m events at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
It also would not hurt TTOC president Brian Lewis’ push for the Nobel Peace Prize for Sport!
Bearing in mind that the flag-bearer for Team TTO at the 2014 Commonwealth Games was recently minted Olympic gold medallist Keshorn Walcott, Ahye—who has Worlds and CAC relay bronze medals but has never won a major individual medal as a senior—has some big shoes to fill.
The “Red, White and Black” will start the serious business tomorrow with Joseph Fox in artistic gymnastics and Jenna Ross in the women’s triathlon while swimmer Dylan Carter (50-metre Butterfly) and boxer Michael Alexander (men’s 60kg) take to the pool and the ring respectively.
And there is the men’s team table tennis competition where TTTTA president Ian Joseph is in Australia as team manager—a job that brings him in direct contact with two players, Dexter St Louis and Rheann Chung, he tried to keep out of the tournament and who have an active lawsuit against him in the High Court.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
Joseph, according to sources, was informed in no uncertain terms that he is about as welcome in their corner as small pox.
Maybe Lewis should hire some UN peacekeepers for that one!
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Was a logical explanation given for khalifa not being chosen?
Injured? Out of form? Is there a qualifying time that wasn’t met? How are spots chosen in these events?
Very serious question, is it that we do not have any other table tennis players besides Dexter St.Louis and Ms. Chung? I am not saying they are not good or may not be suitable, I am wondering why there is always confusion and the courts involved whenever table tennis and international tournaments come around.
If there are other players who can qualify why haven’t they?
We do have four table tennis players there. The other two are Aaron Wilson and Yuvraaj Dookram.
Some athletes we are not familiar with , it would be great if we could get a short bio on our team.
I trust these athletes would be well rewarded on their return to T&T , it takes a lot of practice and hard work yo reach where they have . Well done and congratulations to all concerned in this regard
Best of luck to all participants