Although TT will be carrying a slim 17-member contingent to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Diane Henderson is backing the team to make the nation proud when they leave these shores for France in the coming weeks.
The games will be held from July 26-August 11.
On Saturday, the TTOC announced the squad, with two-time Olympic medallist Keshorn Walcott, former 400-metre World Indoor champion Jereem Richards and ace swimmer Dylan Carter among the headline names in the squad. The TT contingent also features sprint cycling phenom Nicholas Paul, who grabbed a sixth-place finish in his pet men's sprint event at the Tokyo Olympics, which was held in 2021 owing to the covid19 outbreak.
[caption id="attachment_1094912" align="aligncenter" width="452"] Sprinter Jereem Richards -[/caption]
With at least nine athletes set to feature at their first Olympics, the quartet of Carter, Richards, Paul and Walcott will shoulder the responsibility of trying to get podium finishes for TT. The athletes from the red, white and black finished without a medal at the 2020 Olympics.
Walcott, who had a memorable gold-medal performance at the 2012 Olympics in London in the men's javelin event, grabbed TT's only medal at the 2016 Olympics when he landed javelin bronze.
TT's contingent at the London, Rio and Tokyo Olympics all exceeded 30 athletes, with a record number of 33 athletes representing at the latter games.
In this case, Henderson reckons the small number of athletes doesn't equate to a lack of quality.
"The team's chances, generally, are as good as any," Henderson told Newsday, when asked about the team's likelihood of capturing silverware in Paris.
"We have athletes who are elite and their performances speak for themselves."
[caption id="attachment_1094908" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye -[/caption]
Henderson pointed to the recent performances of Carter, Richards and Walcott, and she pinned hopes on them to get to the finals in their respective events, along with veteran sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye, who copped a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in the women's 100-metre event in Chile last year.
Walcott and Ahye are TT's most experienced Olympians and they will both be competing at their fourth Olympics. The 32-year-old Ahye will contest the 100m event and will also be expected to spearhead a 4x100m women's relay team which includes the youthful quartet of Leah Bertrand, 21, Akilah Lewis, 23, and twin Sanaa and Sole Frederick, 18.
On the men's side, TT's 4x100m quartet was unable to seal Paris qualification, but Richards will lead a 4x400m men's into Paris on the heels of lifting the national 400m crown at Hasely Crawford Stadium on June 29.
At the World Athletics Relay championships in Bahamas in May, Richards booked 4x400m qualification alongside the trio of Asa Guevara, Shakeem McKay and Che Lara. McKay will also form part of the men's 4x400m team at the Olympics, which will be completed by Elijah Joseph, Jaden Marchan and the 36-year-ol
