National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA) president Ephraim Serrette does not think Trinidad and Tobago performed poorly at the recent World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea.
The T&T team returned home earlier this week with a solitary bronze medal, having made finals in just four events. And the sprint men, who are usually the top Trinidad and Tobago performers at the Championships, reached only the 4x100-metre relay final, where they failed to earn a medal.
The lone medal came from Kelly-Ann Baptiste in the women's 100-metre final, a first for T&T's sprint women.
But Serrette called a media conference yesterday at NAAA headquarters at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva to deal with the issue, after the NAAA had been "on the receiving end of a number of adverse comments and criticisms from various factions".
"Admittedly, the team that competed at the recently-concluded championships was not as successful as we would have liked," Serrette said.
But the former T&T sprinter saw a number of positives coming from the national squad. He cited Baptiste's first medal in international women's sprints and commended Baptiste for the performance, as well as her "leadership role in the women's 4x100m relay team that only just missed out on bronze".
He pointed to an overall improvement in women's sprints, with Michelle-Lee Ahye and Kai Selvon achieving personal bests in the women's 100m and 200m events.
But just as Minister of Sport Anil Roberts—who was "deeply disappointed" at T&T's Daegu showing—saw a silver lining in the team's results, so does Serrette believe it provides the athletes a chance for introspection.
"In general, the athletes who did not perform as well as we and they themselves would have expected now have a chance to review their training programmes and/or their coaches to make those pertinent adjustments that may be necessary for overall improved performances," he said.
According to Serrette, factors such as the delayed staging of the National Open Championships two weeks before "Worlds" and athlete exemptions will always be blamed for T&T's 2011 performances. But there are other considerations, he reasoned.
Those considerations include the fact that, in 2007, Marc Burns was the only T&T World Championships finalist and that this year's Championships were held on a mountainside venue.
Jamaica and the US also underperformed to their own standards, while Canada, who have more resources than T&T, went without a medal. There was only one Championship record at the meet, Serrette also stated.
Still, the NAAA boss urged athletes to look back at their performances and training programmes and see where they can improve in their preparations for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
"I don't consider it a poor performance. I think the team performed credibly. We now have to go back to the drawing board and as I mentioned, we don't have control over athletes. It's an opportunity for the athletes to look at their programmes and the coaching camp or whatever base they are (at) to make decisions."
The NAAA head also took time to deal with a number of other issues that might have affected the T&T team in South Korea, including Jehue Gordon's registration mix-up and the National Championships.
Although NAAA secretary Allan Baboolal previously assumed responsibility for the matter, Serrette clarified the nature of the mix-up.
"Jehue's entry was (input) into the system, but he was not showing up as having been entered, or registered," Serrette explained. "When the team arrived in Daegu and this was discovered, efforts were made to rectify the situation as quickly as possible."
He also defended the timing of the National Championships and the rejection of exemption requests from Richard Thompson and other premier athletes, calling that decision "absolutely necessary".
"It allowed us to fulfil our obligations to our various stakeholders, provided a measure of the readiness of the athletes, it facilitated proper team selection and it gave Trinidad and Tobago an opportunity to see its elite athletes compete on home soil."
Serrette pointed to the selection of T&T officials as a further "source of contention", but assured that officials are selected early to ensure "necessary preparations can be made" for travelling T&T teams.
When asked for updates for long-jumper Rhonda Watkins and 400m hurdler Josanne Lucas—a bronze medallist two years ago at "Worlds" in Berlin—Serrette said Lucas is still recovering from injury, but the NAAA have "no information" on Watkins despite reaching out to the athlete.
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com
By: Kern De Freitas