media_artricles :: 2013

TT athletes begin World Youth campaign

Trinidad and Tobago’s eight-member athletics team will begin their IAAF World Youth (Under-18) Track and Field Championships campaign in Donetsk, Ukraine, today.

The national squad comprises of females Jeminise Parris (100m hurdles), Kayelle Clarke (200m), Chelsea James (shot put), Portious Warren (shot put) and males Jonathan Farinha (100m/ 200m), Aaron Lewis (110m hurdles), Kenejah Williams (shot put) and Andwuelle Wright (long jump).

Every athlete excluding Lewis will begin their World Youth campaign today since the 110m hurdles is scheduled to race off tomorrow.

At the press conference in Donetsk yesterday, IAAF Ambassador and former TT Olympic medallist, Ato Boldon addressed the over 1,500 international athletes in a motivational speech ahead of today’s events. Although Boldon did not compete in the World Youth Championships (inception in 1999), he won gold at the 1992 World Junior Championships in Seoul, Korea.

With his contesting countrymen avidly listening among the wide cast of athletes, Boldon reiterated the importance of sportsmanship and respect during competition.

“The first thing, and the most important thing, is the friendships you will make,” he said. “There are people I competed with in 1992 – Kareem Streete-Thompson, Haile Gebrselassie – and these are still friends I have to this day, 21 years later. Of course it’s important to compete and to do as well as you can. But if you lock yourself in your room and refuse to socialise with your teammates and athletes from other countries, then you’ll miss out on making lifelong friendships. One of the best things in sport is friendships.”

He added, “The second thing – understand very clearly that the road to senior success is littered with a lot of young phenomenal talents. It’s not a given in this sport that being a young star or teenage champion will automatically result in being a senior star. For every Usain Bolt, Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards-Ross and Yelena Isinbayeva, there are a thousand who do not make it. Even if you’re the best now, it means nothing going forward. As all those athletes had to figure, there’s a gap between junior success and senior success. To have great career, you’ve always got to be thinking four, five, even 10 years ahead.”

While the youngsters pondered on this harsh reality, Boldon urged them to continue working hard in their respective disciplines.

He explained that the World Youth Championships is the major stepping stone for those who wish to pursue athletics as a career and have the dream of one day, representing their country at the prestigious Olympic Games.

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