June 23, Olympic Day is celebrated all around the world where hundreds of thousands of people—young and old—participate in sporting and cultural activities such as running, exhibitions and music. Olympic Day was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris. The goal was to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender, or athletic ability. This year the T&T Olympic committee, together with bpTT, celebrated and commemorated the establishment of the Olympic Games yesterday at Chagville, Chaguaramas. The day’s events began at 7.30 am with a mountain bike race under overcast and windy conditions. With over 60 competing cyclists the first race saw Jason Castalio grabbing the gold medal in 49.18 minutes followed by mountain biker Richi Ramlachan (49.22) and Nicholai Ho (51.56). Each cyclist took an average of 14 minutes to complete a lap in the bushes of Chaguaramas. The veterans’ category saw two winners Brain Sellier and Carl Williams placing first and second respectively. Nine-time national triathlon champion and president of the Rainbow Warriors Triathlon Club (RWTC) Jason Gooding placed first in 27:00 in the sport category followed by brothers Christian and Nicholas Hospedales, who clocked 27:10 and 27:12 respectively.
At Samaan Park, Chaguaramas, over 1,500 children, 300 teachers and parents and 100 voluntary supervisors and senior citizens gathered to take part in the sporting exhibitions such as tennis, gymnastics and karate. Twenty-two out of the 40 national sporting associations with all Olympic sports included were part of the sporting activities. Children from rural areas such as Point Fortin, Mayaro and Tobago who were part of the bpTT “Shape the Community” movement were also present. President of the T&T Olympic Committee Larry Romany thanked bpTT for their sponsorship and support. He mnentioned that showers of rain did not stop the children from taking part in the day’s activities. Olympic-bound shot putter Cleopatra Borel-Brown also made a guest appearance during the day’s proceedings. T&T’s international inspirational young leader Mikel Lawrence will be the first citizen of T&T to carry the Olympic torch at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Lawrence was given a bit of practice when he ran with the local torch and ignited the fire at the opening ceremony. Over the last 20 years, Olympic Day has been associated with Olympic Day runs all over the world. From 45 participating National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in the first edition in 1987, the numbers have grown to nearly 200 participating NOCs.
Source: www.guardian.co.tt