sep.09.2008

Sprinter Richard Thompson experienced the "greatest feeling ever" in his "entire life" when he won two silver medals at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Thompson shared how he felt in an address before a large crowd who had gathered in the courtyard of the Central Bank Towers in Port of Spain yesterday, to welcome him and the 4x100 metre relay team back to Trinidad and Tobago.

Following is the text of the address delivered by Thompson:

"First of all I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the fans out there for taking so long to come, we were at the airport and it took us a long while to get here, so we say sorry about that. It definitely is an honour to be awarded with the Chaconia Gold and I speak on behalf of the entire 4 x 100.

We have said that we're satisfied with what has been given to us and we know it will go a long way. More importantly though, I will like to stress the importance of what we do Track and Field for. We do it for the love of the sport and not to be given anything in particular by anyone, or we're not asking for anything from anyone or the Government. We certainly do appreciate it however.

On the 16th and 22nd of August, I must admit and I'm sure these other guys can admit as well that it was the greatest feeling ever in my entire life, winning those two silver medals. The greatest feeling was the pride and joy of wearing red, white and black and representing Trinidad and Tobago at the highest level.

We look forward to next year, 2009 and the World Championship Games and we hope to turn those two silver medals into gold medals.

More importantly, London 2012 Olympics we plan to be the dominant force that Jamaica was this year. It certainly was a blessing to look at the newspapers online, the Guardian, the Express and the Newsday and see people rejoicing, having fun, having a good time and celebrating, other than to look at the front page of the paper like every other day and see crime and violence.

So we look forward to bringing that positive vibe into Trinidad and Tobago as long as we do Track and Field.

I know you've been out here for a long time and I don't want to bore you anymore, I don't want to take up anymore of your time, so once again I say thanks to the fans of Trinidad and Tobago for the love and support you've given us and we thank the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for handsomely rewarding us and once again we truly appreciate it.

Reward

for Olympic heroes


Richard Thompson-$750,000 and $250,000 worth of units from the Unit Trust Corporation.


Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender, Aaron Armstrong and Marc Burns - $500,000 and $250,000 worth of units from the Unit Trust Corporation.
Source:www .trinidadexpress.com