media_artricles :: 2017

Crawford, Serrette eye four medals

As team T&T athletes get ready for an assault on London World Championships which speeds-off today, two of the sports leading administrators believe that it will be very competitive and the team will have to be on top of its respective forms. Both however, agree that four medals is a possibility given the talent on display.

Hasely Crawford, the 1976 Montreal Olympic games 100 metres sprint champion and the country's top sporting hero, who is attending the IAAF Congress in London told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that the Championship will be about the character of the athletes, he said: "It is about belly, how much you want it, that burning feeling when you put it all out there and just leave nothing. It is tough. There's so much competition these days in all aspects of the sports."

He revealed: "We have some quality athletes, but these championships will be about hunger, who wants it the most, our team can deliver once they all continue to put in the work and effort, so I am hopeful."

Crawford believes the T&T contingent can return home with four medals, "We can get medals in the javelin (Keshorn Walcott), Men's 4x400 metres, Women's 4x100 metres and Machel Cedenio in the 400 metres. There are others like the ladies in the individual sprint events, and also Jareem Richards in the 200 metres. They should qualify for the finals," Crawford explained.

Meanwhile, President of the National Association of Athletic Administrators (NAAA,) Ephraim Serrette, who is also attending the congress meeting agrees with Crawford and said: "It is not going to be easy, it never is, you are going to have to go out there on the day and earn your medal, fight hard and get your reward, this is what it is about at these championships."

Serrette also stated that: "This years Congress has been quite interesting the presentations certainly have added value to the entire process and the way forward for the sport."

Serrette, who met with the team earlier in the weeks told Guardian Media Sports that: "The Spirit among the athletes is quite good, the team is in good spirits and very expectant. When I was there we were only waiting on Keshorn Walcott, Rubin Walters and Jareem Richards to join up the squad. I'm looking at four medals at least, in the javelin, 4x400 meters and 4x100 meters men and women's relays. "We may also have a number of athletes reaching finals and once you have achieved a final eight place, anything is then possible, we have the women and they are showing good individual form, and their times are encouraging as well."

Guardian Media Sports was also informed that the High Commissioner of London, Orville London, has been assisting the T&T team during its stay in London and was due to meet with the contingent last night. According to Crawford: "We have to thanks the High Commission, they have been involved in assisting with the athletes with transportation and providing other support so far."

Now as the world waits on Usain Bolt to win the men's 100 metres finals at the 2017 World Championships, first he will have to qualify in the preliminary round which runs-off today. For T&T Emmanuel Callender, 2017 national 100 metres champion, who is based in Jamaican and Keston Bledman will compete from 3.20 pm (TT time).

Callender, who became national sprint champion for the time this year when he sped to the title in June, remains very focused on the job at hand, while Bledman appears to be slowly coming back to himself within the last few weeks. Both men know that it will probably require a sub 10 time to qualify for the semi-final, much less to win a medal in tomorrow's final.

Dexter Voisin, the manager of the team said: "With regards to the team including the guys for tomorrow (Friday), we have provided and continue to provide all the administrative, medical and technical support to the athletes for them to perform based on their training and their projected world championships goals. A number of our athletes have been joined by their personal coaches after our departure from our training camp. There are no injury concerns, no signs of physical or mental concerns."

Both Callender and Bledman are key to the 4x100 metres relay team as T&T seek to make a major impact on these games, particularly with many writing them off back home, given their recent performances on the track at international events.

Meanwhile, Voisin continued: "We accomplished our goals at the Camp, for those who attended, they were able to acclimatized themselves in preparation for their respective events and the weather conditions here. We were able to build camaraderie and go through our relay practice sessions. I would say the camp was a big success."

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