Multiple medal success at the Toronto 2015 Pan American and Parapan Games, and Special Olympics, the Trinidad and Tobago public has had plenty to cheer about and the expectations are high for the upcoming IAAF Beijng World Championships. Every four years, the anticipation surrounding the Olympic Games gains much attention around the world. What better way to show true passion and support for your country with official supporter merchandise and where do we get it? 

@briaclew when are we going to be able to buy official @TTOlympic gear?
 
This question was asked of Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee’s (TTOC) President via Twitter. The tweet stirred up discussions on social media suggesting that there was a demand for Team TTO Olympic merchandise. Seems as if the performances of our sportswomen and sportsmen have generated attention.
 
Requests for various clothing items included T-back tank tops, joggers, racer back workout vests to name a few were made on social media.
 
How to meet the demand for hats, jerseys, jackets, polos, three quarter shorts etc with TTOC, 10Golds24 and Team TTO branding? The TTOC is in discussions with a potential licensee.
 
Just like the #10Golds24 vision, the TTOC is determined to face the challenges. Establishing and maintaining the TTOC / Team TTO brand is an important aspect for building relationships with stakeholders. Word coming out of Olympic House is that the official launch of TTOC merchandise is coming soon.    

A survey that revealed up to a third of top athletes admitted using banned performance-enhancing techniques was allegedly suppressed by the sport’s governing body. The results of the study showed that 29 to 34 per cent of 1,800 competitors broke anti-doping rules, the Sunday Times and ARD-WDR German TV have claimed.

It was carried out by researchers at the University of Tuebingen in Germany, who carried out confidential interviews with athletes at the 2011 world championships in Daegu, South Korea.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) told the newspaper it was still in negotiations with the study authors and the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) about its publication.

“These findings demonstrate that doping is remarkably widespread among elite athletes, and remains largely unchecked despite current biological testing programmes,” the study said.

Researchers allege they were told to sign a confidentiality agreement and have now criticised the IAAF for preventing its publication.

“The IAAF’s delaying publication for so long without good reason is a serious encroachment on the freedom of publication,” the researchers said in a statement.

They added the IAAF had not commissioned the survey but had used its influence to suppress the findings.

The lead author, Rolf Ulrich, said his team had been barred from discussing their work. He said: “The IAAF is blocking it. I think they are stakeholders with WADA and they just blocked the whole thing.”

The study was financed by WADA who told the newspaper it had given the IAAF the power to veto publication in return for allowing access to the athletes at Daegu.

Some of the study was leaked in America in 2013 but the governing body prevented the full publication of the findings, the newspaper alleged.

The IAAF has denied suggestions any veto took place. “The IAAF has never vetoed publication of this article,” it said in a statement.

“The IAAF does however have serious reservations as to the interpretation of the results made by the research group as confirmed by high-profile experts in social science who reviewed the publication on our request.

“The IAAF submitted those concerns to the research group but has never heard back from them.”

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The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has announced the completion of its constitutional reform process.

Working for the last 18 months, the Raoul John-led a team consisting for former Newcastle United and ESPN analyst Shaka Hislop, senator Elton Prescott, Olympic Committee chairman Brian Lewis, Patrick Raymond, Dr. Shida Rampersad and former West Indies Players Association president Dinanath Ramnarine, worked with former local Referees Association president Osmond Downer to produce the new TTFA constitution.

TTFA president Raymond Tim Kee said the Association had no choice but to do things differently from the past, therefore a reform committee made up of eminent persons was put together to reform the TTFA constitution.

“The new document will speak of not only how things ought to be done, but will look also at the restructuring of the organisation,” Tim Kee said.

“In the restructuring effort, what we ensured was there were checks and balances ensured. Accountability and transparency are two main pillars (upon) which this constitution was developed.

“So, we will be having an office run by compliance and audit, to ensure not only that accounts are done in a particular way, but also that the systems are adhered to, to ensure good governance.

“I am sure we have done enough to ensure there is not a recurrence of those mistakes (of the past),” Tim Kee declared.

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Calypso Girls finish World Cup with another winning effort

SYDNEY

Trinidad and Tobago goal-shooter Samantha Wallace scored 53 goals to ensure the Calypso Girls recorded their sixth win in a row yesterday at the Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia, sealing ninth place overall in the process.
T&T had already beaten Samoa 67-47 earlier in the tournament when they met at the second eight Group G last week. However, the local netballers were expecting a stern test after a nail-biting 57-56 extra-time victory over Scotland in their previous encounter on Saturday.
T&T started the match with the intention of using their most potent weapon as much as possible. Wallace scored all 15 of her tries in the first quarter, a total which saw the Calypso Girls end the first quarter with a slim 15-13 lead over the Samoans.

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T&T sprint relay women end ‘Masters’ in style

Trinidad and Tobago closed off their World Masters Athletics Championship campaign in style in Lyon, France, yesterday.
Donelle Stafford, Sasha Springer, Ayanna Hutchinson and Marsha Mark-Baird teamed up for gold in the women’s 35-39 4x100 metres relay in a world masters record time of 47.65 seconds. The clocking was a nine-hundredths of a second improvement on the old global standard of 47.74.
The T&T quartet finished well ahead of France, the silver medallists in 49.09 seconds. Great Britain, meanwhile, clocked 49.30 to claim bronze.
T&T finished the Championships with 13 medals—six gold, three silver and four bronze.

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Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Sport have officially launched their “Podium Push” initiative, designed to help the country’s athletes achieve their target of 10 Olympic and Paralympic gold medals by 2024.

The Ministry's director of sport Gabre McTair vowed to give their athletes the best possible preparation for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and has called on the various sporting bodies in the country to put forward competitors who they think have a realistic prospect of earning a medal.

The scheme will also cover expenses for Trinidadian and Tobago athletes, including travel to overseas competitions, training camps and sessions with nutritionists and psychologists.

“Our Elite Athlete Assistant Programme needed some refocusing to ensure that our sporting elite received proper funding, I recognised that even more was needed to help Brian Lewis and his team at the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) achieve their aim of ten gold medals by the year 2024,” McTair said.

“Providing funding to take our top athletes to the Olympics is not enough.

“I realise that getting there is not the challenge but finishing in the top three requires additional commitment and effort from the athletes, coaches support teams and the Ministry of Sport.”

As well as the scheme, launched at an Achievers’ Luncheon hosted by the Ministry of Sport at the grand ballroom of the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, members of the Trinidad and Tobago team at the Special Olympics, which concluded in Los Angeles last month, were awarded plaques for their achievements.

They claimed a haul of 48 medals at the event which included 15 golds, nine silvers and 24 bronzes.

Also honoured at the luncheon were Trinidad and Tobago’s medallists from the recent Pan American Games in Toronto, where they took home three golds, three silvers and two bronzes.

The development is the latest initiative aimed at increasing the success of Trinidad and Tobago at Olympic level and follows the TTOC announcing they plan to turn Lord Harris Square in the capital Port of Spain into an Olympic Village ahead of Rio 2016.

Since making its Olympic debut at London 1948, Trinidad and Tobago have won only two gold medals, Hasely Crawford in the 100 metres at Monteal 1976 and Keshorn Walcott in the javelin at London 2012.

Trinidad and Tobago have never won a Paralympic medal of any colour having competed at both the 1984 and 1988 Games, before they returned at London 2012 following a 24-year absence.

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