Athletics chief launches inquiry into TT failureBy STEPHON NICHOLAS Tuesday, August 4 2009
EPHRAIM SERETTE, president of the National Association of Athletic Administration (NAAA) has expressed disappointment in TT’s medal haul at the Pan Am Junior Track and Field Championships held at the Hasely Crawford stadium, Mucurapo last weekend.
The former Olympis sprinter has promised to conduct a serious analysis from the ground to the top level.
In 2007, TT had their best ever performance at a Pan Am Junior Championships, finishing with two gold medals, five silver and three bronze.
But they were well short of that mark in the 2009 edition despite competing in front of their home crowd finishing with just five medals.
No TT athlete won a gold medal as well, with just four silver and a bronze to show over three days of competition.
Gavyn Nero was second in the Men’s 800m event in 1:48.90 while Jehue Gordon took the runner-up spot in the 400m hurdles in 50.08 seconds.
The 4x400m Men’s relay team collected silver with a time of 3:07.70 while Quincy Wilson’s effort in the Men’s Shot Put was good enough for a silver medal and the 4x100m women were third.
“We definitely have to start rethinking selection.
People were saying that we are home and we should have a full team but I have maintained that we must only enter events that we are competitive but being competitive is too broad. We want to look at athletes that can make a final,” he continued.
The NAAA boss explained that the Carifta Games which TT copped 29 medals was not competitive enough. He noted that just making a Pan Am, Carifta or World Junior team is not sufficient.
“I don’t want to blame the coaches but I want to know what is going on there. I’m not seeing the hunger in the athletes. We need to motivate the athletes because at this level you are competing with the best.
I could settle for a personal best but we are not even seeing that,” he said.
Serrette revealed that his executive will be revisiting the selection process because his expectations certainly exceeded the results.
“A lot of money and effort have gone into this meet. The athletes need to know that.
“The event has ended and today we have bills and don’t know how to pay them,” he revealed.
He pointed out that all stakeholders will be summoned at an open forum soon so that suggestions could be made for the betterment of track and field.
The NAAA head was satisfied, however, with the administrative end of the championships and praised the young volunteers.
There were also international officials present to ensure the meet was up to IAAF standard.
Serrette was in special praise of sponsor National Gas Company (NGC) for outfitting the officials and their monetary contribution.
