Today makes it 24 months to the day to the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Approximately 11,000 athletes will participate in 339 events in 33 sports (50 disciplines). The motto of the games is Discover Tomorrow.|
It’s a motto with tremendous profundity. It’s a theme that over the next 24 months the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) will be exploring. Tokyo 2020 is firmly on the radar and as much as the TTOC must focus on the moment in time that is today. The balance to be struck is keeping both eyes on the present while at the same time holding 2020 in the cross hairs.
In this respect, the investment in sending probably the largest ever delegation to a Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games is an important seed that has been planted.
That the first few days of the 23rd CAC Games has occasioned a “Gold Rush” as one daily newspaper called it, has seen a positive light of congratulations bathing Team T&T (#TeamTTO).
It’s always interesting to see individuals who would have expressed in their private or workspace the view that sending such a large team to Barranquilla, Colombia is a waste of money. Also throwing in for good measure that #10golds24 is a dream that is so unrealistic that it ought not to be given any credence. That, some of the individuals making such declarations occupy space in supposedly essential positions within the sports ecosystem, would surprise those who may want to assume that everyone has the confidence that there are the talent and potential.
It should not surprise anyone that there are people who are averse to uplifting the athletes of T&T. It’s as if there is the perverse pleasure in being able to proclaim” “I told you so!”
It should not surprise anyone that within the safety of their comfort zone our athletes making strides and earning medals is an opportunity to join the parade and not be exposed as the impediment to the full bloom of our athletes that they are.
They take great joy and pride in celebrating our athletes’ success as well as their failures only difference one is displayed publicly while the other is done within the inner sanctum of their offices and social safety zones.
The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat is neither here nor there but simply an opportunity to seek to prove their point, whatever that may be.
Our athletes aspire to be great that they fall short at times have more to do with those who act as if our athletes are a means to an end.
But T&T is fortunate that many of our athletes choose to channel their frustration, anger and resent into the positive fire rather than negative.
And as such the nation is given opportunities to feel good and celebrate and discover if they so choose a brighter tomorrow.
Editor’s Note: Brian Lewis is the president of the T&T Olympic Committee (T&TOC) and the views expressed by him are not necessarily those of the organisation.