Gooding asks Government to allow triathlon, running events

FORMER TT triathlon champion and current event organiser Jason Gooding is making a plea to the Government to consider the resumption of sporting events such as triathlon. He said with proper protocols in place those sporting events can be held during the covid19 pandemic.

Gooding, the organiser of the annual Rainbow Cup in Tobago, is hopeful the event can be held in June 2021 after last year’s event was cancelled.

In an interview with Newsday, on Wednesday, Gooding said, “We have not heard anything for a while regarding (sports) and the easing up of restrictions. When it comes to triathlon and running races there is the possibility of having the events with regulated starts so you avoid having the group starts.”

Most sports in TT are still at a standstill during the pandemic with some sporting officials asking for permission to get their athletes active again.

National athletes are currently allowed to train, while sports such as tennis and golf have been given the green light.

The TT Cricket Board (TTCB) is one sporting organisation that has called for cricket to resume.

The TTCB wanted to hold a zonal tournament in January to give the TT Red Force cricketers ample preparation ahead of the Cricket West Indies Regional Super50 tournament in February. The national cricketers have been training, but the board was not approved to hold the tournament.

The TTCB said it planned to put all covid19 measures in place to have a safe tournament.

Gooding said many people are crowding beaches such as Maracas Bay and exercising around the Queen’s Park Savannah, therefore he believes some organised competitions can be allowed.

Gooding added that having events keeps people motivated to stay fit and healthy.

In triathlon, dozens of people gather at the starting line but Gooding said that can be altered.

“I could understand that you don’t want to have it as a group sport, but you could have it where people take off in time trials…we regulate how many people.”

Gooding said with distance events ten people can be allowed to start at a time to maintain physical distancing.

The former national triathlon champion said people are suffering financially during the pandemic with the restrictions in place.

“How long are we going to go on where our economy just keeps going down and down?”

Gooding said people are living on the breadline and businesses are closing down.

He added that he is concerned that the TT athletes preparing for the 2021 Olympics will not be fully prepared with a lack of competition.

“Potentially Olympics is going to be in a few months where our athletes aren’t getting to compete, our athletes not getting to go away to qualify for anything. Is our Government and all our people going to turn around and say, ‘We expecting our athletes to do well. How all their athletes doing well and our athletes not doing well?’ It is something to be considered or debated upon…when was the last time we heard anything regarding this?”

Gooding is also concerned about the mental health of people who are spending a lot of time confined to their homes.