Kenneth Medwood Demands Respect for Belize’s Athletes

Kenneth Medwood

Medwood, who finds himself in a similar situation as Kaina Martinez, says that they have been disrespected by the Belize Athletic Association.

Kenneth Medwood, Athlete

“I just feel that it’s a great disrespect, I mean, me and Kaina competed in the 2012 Olympics and Kaina ran in the quarters and then Kaina qualified to run in the preliminaries and I feel that she represented the country well, whereas on my behalf I actually qualified for the 2012 games.  So I actually hit the Olympic standard in 2012, I made it to the games and I actually made it to the semifinals.  So I was actually one round away from the finals.  So for us to be in a position like this where we’ve actually been at the greatest stage you can be on and we performed at a high level, it’s a great disrespect because we don’t take this lightly.  This is something that we actually pursue at the highest level and we invest the most that we can.  We invest our time, your emotion and your finances with no help from them.  The only thing that the BAA has paid for with me since the 2012 Olympics is to go to a Central American Championships or to go to Glasgow.  They have not helped in any way with rehabilitation, with maintenance of fitness.  I have to pay my coach, I have to pay rent, I have to work.  You know, there’s so much that goes into this that I .have to do.”