media_artricles :: 2015

Borel bags 4th top Sportswoman award

Shot putter Cleopatra Borel, 35, has copped her fourth Sportswoman of the Year award in 12 years, while swimmer George Bovell, 31, has emerged as Sportsman of Year, for the second time in a decade.

The top honours were presented to the champion athletes at the 52nd First Citizens Sports Foundation Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year 2014 with the theme “Celebrating Our Potential” held at Queen’s Hall in St Ann’s, Port-of-Spain on Friday.

Bovell took the spotlight at the glitzy affair to bask in another significant moment of sporting glory, while etching his name again into history to the adulation of the energetic audience, which included President Anthony Carmona and wife Reema Carmona and Sport Minister Brent Sancho and wife Suzie Sancho.

Borel was unable to attend. She is in Cuba engaged in specialty training with her coach Ismael Lopez Mastrapa. She was represented by her mother Marcelle Borel.

It was another major reward for Borel, who as a young girl growing up in Mayaro, enjoyed a savoury diet that consisted a hearty mix of fresh fish and ground provisions and whose innate desire to excel was never curtailed by the lack of proper training facilities.

That level of conviction guided her decision not to retire from competitive sports, prematurely almost three years ago.

Citing Borel’s sterling performances for the year under review, the Sportswoman of the Year announcement came as no surprise to sporting pundits, however.

She opened the year as a champion with a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow Scotland back in August and turned up the heat, to clinch gold at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Mexico three months later.

Participation and eventual accomplishment at the CAC Games bore special significance to Borel–it was her third gold medal at the event in six years.

These achievements led to another amazing chapter in her career, underscoring why she was ranked among the best in the world.

Back on local soil, Borel was bestowed with rewards from the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC), Senior Sportswoman of the Year in December, and in January, Senior Female Athlete by her representing national sporting organisation—the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA).

Bovell enjoyed another great season of competition in 2014. At the FINA World Cup series, he captured nine medals. Two of those medals came in the men’s 100 metres individual medley in Doha, Qatar and Dubai, UAE (United Arab Emirates). He earned the third, competing in the 50m freestyle in Singapore.

His preference for gold was clear at the CAC Games, too. Competing in the 50m freestyle at that championships he got the better of Renzo Tjon-A-Joe (Suriname) and Hanser Garcia (Cuba). Bovell also earned bronze in the 50m backstroke behind Venezuelans Albert Subirats and Robinson Molina.

Borel and Bovell on Friday night emerged tops from a list of 51 athletes in 31 disciplines.

They were shortlisted among the top 10 athletes. They were: Michael Alexander (boxing) Monifa Sealy (golf) Christopher George (judo) Adrian Brown (powerlifting) Yoland Mc Intyre (powerlifting) Roger Daniel (shooting), Rheann Chung (table tennis) and Keshorn Walcott (javelin).

The precincts of Queen’s Hall again erupted with thunderous applause when the national senior women’s football team was declared winner of the Lystra D Lewis Award for Team of the Year, then for the Jeffrey Stollmeyer memorial award winner, the NAAA as the best performing national sporting organisation. It was the fourth win for the NAAA since the award was introduced 20 years ago.

For the 2014 presentation, however, the Sports Foundation decided to split the category. The NAAA won under the banner large, while the Target Archery Association earned the Stollmeyer award in the medium class.

A video tribute to former hockey player and sport administrator Florrie Kelshall, 99, earned her a standing ovation. During the reception, she was seen dancing to the DJs healthy offering of pulsating soca music.

Dr Keith Clifford, chairman of the Foundation said it remained an honour to pay homage to the nation’s outstanding athletes who through hard work, dedication and discipline continue to make this country proud.

“For the past 52 years, the Sport Foundation has been charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the most desired trophies in local sports are presented to the men and women who have surpassed their colleagues with their achievements during the years under review,” he said.

“We take our mandate extremely seriously and as we continue to build on our relationship with the national governing bodies for sport, we are ever mindful of the challenges faced by many of our national organisations.

“The First Citizens Sports Foundation is ready to play, as it always has, a major role in ensuring that sport in our beloved republic gets its just due, and that our athletes are supported maximally as they continue to bring glory to us all. Our theme for this event is apt, especially as we prepare for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

“We hold much hope for another great performance by our T&T athletes and exhort them to give of their best in their preparation; recognising the important role that sport and their achievements play in uniting a nation. More good comes from sport than from any other endeavour.”

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