…However, two athletes injured during games
There was also some bad news about the females who competed in athletics. Meighan told News Five that two of the three runners were injured and had to drop out of the competitions while the third didn’t qualify to move ahead.
Owen Sonny Meighan, Public Relations Officer, National Olympic Committee
owen sonny meighan
“Kina [Martinez], she is our sprinter. She met some stiff competition because Australia and England and those countries are known for great sprinters. She ran in her heat but only the first five in the heat go on to the second round. Unfortunately, she didn’t make the second round. Kay-Dee [Vaughn], our long jumper she was injured three months ago, but her injury was healing very well so we thought she could still go to compete, which she did. But unfortunately, she got hurt. She got hurt and she still tried to jump but she fouled all her three jumps so she didn’t move on to the second round, the finals. Then we had in heptathlon, a young lady who resides in England and she also was injured. She tried to recuperate the best she could and the coaches said she could still compete. She did four out of her ten events she should have taken part in and the fifth one she really couldn’t go anymore. After the shot put she just couldn’t go anymore. She was really badly hurt but she really tried.”
That young lady is Kathy Sealy, a Belizean living in England. And while she did not complete the event, she did set a national record for the hundred meter hurdles and broke her personal record in the high jump.
Lets support our athletes by investing in them. There is no reason why we can’t produce superstars like Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas, Merlene Ottey, Veronica Campbell, Asafa Powell, Usain Bolt, Dorian Scott, Lerone Clarke of Jamaica, and Ato Boldon, Emmanuel Callender and Aaron Armstrong of Trinidad and Tobago. These countries have produced world-class sprinters and even Olympians in the past 2-3 decades. These guys have proven to be formidable opponents to any athletes from the rest of the world. It is not about Belize being a small country as even Barbados and now Guyana with similar population size has produced some world-class athletes too. I have a real passion for track and field, and I only wish the country supported our youngsters the same way. One day I want to see a Belizean standing on the podium and our flag being hoist and the anthem being played. I know it is a dream but you have to with a dream (an ambition) in order to know where you want to be in the future.
I have attended athletic meets many times and I make sure it coincide with my visits to other countries in the US or Europe. I watch the Ethiopians, the Kenyans, Jamaicans living in these cities turning up to these events with their flags and bugles and I admire the support these people give from their athletes. I also watch with great envy the pride they have when their athletes do so well by getting on the podium. It’s so beautiful to see. It will give our athletes such a big psychological boost to know the country is there cheering them on. I am passionate about T&F and so it really saddens me to see we have such a sad state of affair with our athletes. Its almost like we have been left behind and I can only put it down to lack of investment.
First let’s get our priorities set before spending money on individuals that are just going to FAIL or you could find someone who is willing to sponsor them i.e. the Borrows or Shyne.
Rizzo This is exactly the attitude why we have an almost always poor show at events with a few exceptions. So many countries classified as poorer based on their GDPs perform so much better than us. However it is exactly the mean spirited , selfish attitude, me, me me, me which is crippling our country! You have to invest into someone to watch them grow and then reap the benefits.
We always expect someone else to put their hands in their pocket and give a handout. Anybody except you right? There is no reasons why the community can’t have several banquets, gala evenings, bbq (s), sporting events, raffles, its is called FUND-RAISING to support our athletes. But I gather you would prefer to continue with the small bloody-minded negative attitude and watch them fail. Why change eh?