ago.07.2008

It was at the Games of the XIV Olympiad: London 1948 which ran from 29 July to 14 August that six athletes from Trinidad and Tobago made history by becoming the country’s first participants at the Olympic Games.

These athletes were:

Athletics
George Lewis – 100m and 200m
Mannie Ramjohn – 5000m and 10000m
Wilfred Tull – 800m

Cycling
Compton Gonzalves – Kilometre time trial

Weightlifting
Rodney Wilkes – Featherweight

Officials were:

Sir Lennox O’Reilly
Lt. Commander Charles Hayward
Roland Gill
Harry Clarke
Laurie Rogers
A.E. Browne

These athletes deserve the commendation of the whole country for entering hitherto uncharted territory and becoming a source of encouragement to those athletes who came after them.

8 August, 2008 marks the start of the XXIX Olympiad: Beijing 2008 but of historical significance is the fact that the year, 2008, commemorates the sixtieth anniversary of the first medal to be won by Trinidad and Tobago at the Olympic Games. Rodney Wilkes was able to experience the elation of being among the first athletes from Trinidad and Tobago to participate in the Olympic Games and this was magnified when he became the first national to win a medal – silver – in the Featherweight Class in Weightlifting. his feat was acheived on 9 August 1948.

In celebrating this stellar achievement the TTOC is proud to acknowledge the dedication to excellence, and commitment to hard work displayed by T&T's Olympic pioneers.