media_artricles :: 2013

Dr Hypolite is NACAC Coach of Year

Coach of Trinidad and Tobago’s 400m hurdles sensation Jehue Gordon, Dr Ian Hypolite, was named “2013 Coach of the Year” by the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) on Saturday.

Dr Hypolite was selected at the General Assembly of the 23rd Track and Field Coaches Association of NACAC in Curacao. This year, the national track tutor and his hurdle student, shot to international stardom when Gordon won gold at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia, in August. Gordon also had two gold medals during the IAAF Diamond League including the finale in Belgium.

Speaking to the successful track coach yesterday, Dr Hypolite expressed gratitude towards the American athletic governing body for highlighting his work over the past competitive year.

“It feels great to be recognised for all the hard work that I, Jehue and my other athletic students have been through,” he said. “I’m always happy for these achievements. For me, this is a tremendous award and I appreciate this a lot.”

Dr Hypolite admitted that both he and Jehue have overcome many obstacles whilst travelling the globe. He openly revealed that attending major international meets, coaching students, analysing and evaluating his athletes do sometimes take a toll on him. Being rewarded for his hard work seemed just to the ace TT coach.

“Jehue and I do a lot of work and training together, and he’s not my only athlete, I have several others that I work with also. Jehue shot into the spotlight this year and it was mainly because of the time, effort and work that he puts in. Training really pays off for both the athlete and coach in times like these,” he added.

When asked about his plans for the near future, Dr Hypolite explained that he is intent on continuing to further develop and produce national track representatives.

“Well from here I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing, which is creating athletes to reach their fullest and best potential on the competitive circuit. We have a lot of good athletes here in Trinidad and Tobago and I will continue to do my best in getting the best out of them,” Dr Hypolite concluded.

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