media_artricles :: 2013

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Boldon proud of life achievements

ATO BOLDON, Trinidad and Tobago’s four-time Olympic medallist (in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games), is proud of his achievements in the sport of track and field.

The 39-year-old Boldon was speaking at Monday’s opening day of the annual Sports Desk’s Secondary Schools Leadership Symposium, at the Conference Centre, Cascadia Hotel, St Ann’s. The four-day event is being sponsored by Atlantic LNG and the Ministry of Sport.

The NBC and CBS Sports television broadcast track and field analyst noted, “I said, when I started my career at 18, my job was to do several things — win a World Championship, win an Olympic title, leave the sport better than I found it and influence the next generation. Three out of four ain’t bad.”

Boldon spoke on the topic Confidence versus Arrogance and, asked if the topic could have been altered to Confidence and Humility, responded, “you have to bring a certain level of humility to your work.

“There is a book of movement now where I see too many young people being stifled because, God forbid, somebody with a unique talent step outside of that mainstream,” he said. “Obviously Keshorn Walcott comes to mind.

“You could imagine the amount of people, just in his own town or village (in Toco), who were like ‘javelin?’ There are always going to be people, because of their bubble or their myopia, they feel like (they must express) how much this is a futile (desire) to attempt this thing because, in my mind, it can’t happen.”

Boldon also urged the students to maintain a level of excellence, and stated that they should not seek any excuse, instead “just get the job done.”

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