Japan coach Eddie Jones and captain Michael Leitch entered a crammed media room in Brighton to a round of applause after their side had produced the biggest shock in Rugby World Cup history.
TTOC Concerned about injuries and impact on Athlete Welfare and Preparation
The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) intends to be proactive and reach out to National Sport Organisations ,athletes and coaches to address the injury situation negatively impacting Olympic sports in Trinidad and Tobago.
The TTOC earlier this year established an Olympic Sports Medicine and Injury Rehabilitation Support Services Network(OSMIRSM) as part of its 10 or more Olympic Gold medals by year 2024 athlete welfare and preparation programme.
The objective of the OSMIRSM is to prevent injuries occurring in the first place by facilitating the correct preventative measures, and when injuries do happen to ensure a speedy recovery.
Accelerating progressive rehabilitation is essential in elite and Olympic sport.
The TTOC believes that athlete centred medical services support includes efficiency from a medical expertise perspective, communication and case management between the different areas of expertise.
Our athletes welfare short and long term are at risk there is a performance,social and economic cost .
Sports medicine ,rehabilitation and traumatology ,injury management and prevention and the process of recovery require specific focus and organisation .
Sharing of knowledge and experiences will increase the quality of service to our athletes in particular those in the elite and Olympic level environment.
Its important to work with stakeholders to put in place appropriate strategies.
Brian Lewis
President
TTOC
T&T Mountain Bike team leaves for Puerto Rico
The first ever national mountain bike team departed Trinidad yesterday to compete in the Caribbean Mountain Bike Championship in Puerto Rico, on Sunday.
The T&T team comprises Jason Costelloe (elite men), Ryan Chin (elite men), Candace Chin Fatt (elite women), Peter Sellier (junior men), manager Brian Sellier (Peter’s father) and coach Drew Edsall.
Being T&T’s first ever national mountain bike (MTB) team, it bodes well for the development of the MTB discipline under the T&T Cycling Federation (TTCF) umbrella. The Caribbean Mountain Bike Championship will have teams from Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and T&T. The event type is known as ‘XCO’ (Cross Country Olympic) and the course will be four-six km with multiple laps. The elite race will take approximately one hour 45 minutes and the juniors will be one hour 30 minutes. The team’s first priority will be to re-assemble and check their bikes, then learn the course over the next couple of days.
The coach will ride with the team during the training and preparation time and will work with them to assess the best lines and approaches to any obstacles, as well as conducting some start drills. Edsall will ensure that each athlete is physically and mentally prepared to achieve their personal best for T&T.
The team is grateful for the financial assistance provided by the Sport Company of T&T. The team also thanked the TTCF for making this team possible and all those who have contributed to the individuals development and success through their support, encouragement and assistance.
Flow invests $5m in T&T Olympic medal quests
The T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) received a further boost towards its goal of ten or more gold medals by 2024, as Flow has agreed to give $5m over five years to the local track and field committee.
This announcement follows the decision by Toyota in July to give $750,000 over the next five years leading up to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
At a press conference yesterday at the TTOC office on Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain, managing director of Flow Brian Collins spoke about the partnership.
Collins said: “I am delighted to share with you some of the details of the partnership between the T&T Olympic Committee and Flow.
“We wanted to deepen Flow’s support for the T&T Olympic Committee. These talks began about eight months ago. We always knew we would come together because we share the similar passion for excellence and wanting to see Trinidad and Tobago athletes perform at the very highest level.”
Collins said Flow believes in long term investment. “We believe this five-year partnership is something that is truly significant and allows Brian (Lewis) and his team some headspace to plan ahead. They know they (TTOC) have a partner, a sponsor, and they could rely on us. Not just what is written in the contract but outside of that as this is a partnership in every form.”
Collins added: “As a corporate sponsor of development and community in the country in which we do business we examine our involvement from three perspectives—how are we supporting, how are we helping and what will success look like as a stakeholder.
“The ten or more gold medals by 2024 helped us see that clearly by helping our T&T athletes prepare for the Olympic Games. Contributing to the success of these individuals, who are so passionate about what they do and who would like to do well for themselves and for the love of their sport and country, it was a no brainer for us.”
President of the TTOC Brian Lewis said the money will be used initially for the elite athletes. “This is focused initially on the elite athletes. This is about ten or more Olympic gold medals by 2024.
Today the T&T Olympic Committee is a proud partner of one of the most innovative and visionary corporate entities in the region, and one can dare say further afield.”
T&T has won two Olympic gold medals in its history. Hasely Crawford won gold in the men’s 100m event at the 1976 Games, while Keshorn Walcott captured gold in the men’s javelin in 2012.
Yesterday, the TTOC also distributed outstanding medal bonuses to T&T athletes for their performances at the Pan American Games earlier this year. Cleopatra Borel collected her bonus after winning gold in the women’s shot put, while Renny Quow’s father collected on his behalf. Quow was part of the men’s 4X400m team that won gold.
Farrier: We have to develop young riders
The president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cycling Federation (TTCF) Robert Farrier is looking forward to liaising with the new Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Darryl Smith, regarding the future development of the sport in T&T.
"I would like to congratulate the new Minister," he said yesterday. "We have a lot to talk about regarding the development of young athletes."
Farrier has recently returned from France where he was on hand to see the T&T senior track cycling team compete at the Open Nations Grand Prix in Roubaix, France.
The event was the last on the calendar for accumulating UCI points, which meant Elite local cyclists Jude Codrington, Quincy Alexander and Justin Roberts were on hand, competing in the Elite men's sprints and keirin events.
Farrier indicated that the meet was a good opportunity for the TTCF to get a measure of how the local riders currently measure up in world cycling. "We were competitive," he said. "I was able to look at different programmes, the different bicycles they use, and it was also a good opportunity to observe how they manage their facility."
The head of the local federation is eagerly anticipating the opening of the National Track Cycling Centre in Couva. However, the official opening which was originally carded for late July, has been put off.
"They (the Ministry) have told us that the unveiling would have been the week before elections," said Farrier. "All cyclists however were overseas in competition however, and it had to be postponed.
"This is something we have to discuss with the Minister," he continued. "We need the facility to train, so that is one of the reasons I would like to have a discussion with him."
T&T were unable to medal at the recent Junior World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. Farrier told the Express that it is always a difficult competition for young local cyclists, despite the fact that they do well at the Pan American level. He indicated that even at the junior level, athletes need to be better prepared.
Regarding the future development of local track cycling in particular, Farrier said that top level riders should make the trip to the European circuit at least twice a year. "We have to go to more of the European Grand Prix to see where we're at with that level of competition," he said.
At the Open Nations Grand Prix, Alexander finished 18th in the sprints, and 13th in the keirin. Codrington was 27th in the sprints, but managed a 16th-place finish in the keirin, while Roberts came 22nd in the sprint and 14th in the keirin.