Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee president Lewis: Fear of covid19 should not paralyse us

TT Olympic Committee president Brian Lewis. - JEFF K MAYERS
TT Olympic Committee president Brian Lewis. - JEFF K MAYERS

Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis says the last thing Team TTO's athletes need ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games in July is for the public to project their personal and collective fear surrounding covid19.

Lewis and the TTOC hosted the media at its office on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, on Wednesday, to start a 100-day countdown to Tokyo.

The games were originally scheduled for 2020 but for an unprecedented one-year postponement, owing to the pandemic.

There's no stopping the athletes now, Lewis said.

"It is like an aeroplane taking off. You know there's a point in the take-off where there's no turning back? With 100 days to go, there is no turning back," he said.

An animated Lewis implored the public to cease its negativity, particularly since the athletes would have experienced additional obstacles ahead of the Olympics over the past year.

He even slammed suggestions that covid19 vaccines should be mandatory for athletes to compete.

"The critics are many. The experts are many. There are those who believe it is utter stupidity for the games to go on. There are those who believe that vaccination should be compulsory, notwithstanding the human right, the constitutional right to choose.

"...There are so many people naysaying. Why is it as a nation, as a people, we can't rally around our youth and young people that will be donning the red, white and black to go to Tokyo, united against universal adversity? Why?

"Why is it that we are so comfortable and easy to focus on the negative, to project our individual and collective fear on our youth and young people? Haven't they undergone enough?

"Or is it that sport and Team TTO is not important as all the other things that have gone on during this covid19."

Lewis then rubbished the cost factor, saying, "This is not about the fact that the games will cost X amount or how much it will cost to go there. This is about the fact that human beings throughout the world are committed and united against what is a universal adversity.

"Many of us," he said, "don't have a recall of World War I and World War II, when the Olympic Games was cancelled. This is the first time in history that the Olympic Games has been postponed and rescheduled.

"I want to tell people of TT and the athletes, the critics, those who fully support, TTO's corporate partners, we can't allow fear to paralyse us.

"The challenge of social media is that there are many keyboard experts. But what we have to continue doing, now that we are past that point of return, is to stay focused, be unwavering and indomitable. We are at the point where you are either for us or against us, because Team TTO cannot be distracted, and in saying Team TTO, I include everyone.

"I am pleading with this country, I am pleading with all of you, corporate TT, I am pleading with whoever: give us a break. Take your fears of covid and deal with it. We are guided by the science."

Two covid19 protocol officers for team TTO

Experienced chef de mission Lovie Santana and former women's national volleyball player Rheeza Grant will take on duties as protocol officers to enforce Team TTO's compliance with the relevant regulations in Tokyo.

This was revealed by TTOC secretary general Annette Knott as the Olympic Committee began the 100-day countdown to the games.

"When you think of our athletes, who were ready to peak by July, 2020, and now, 2021, they have to be ready again. I think one of the main questions everyone will ask is, 'Is it going to be safe? Are our athletes and officials going to be safe?'

"We know that this is going to be one of the toughest games because of logistics, but I am confident that the team that is going to the Olympic Games is a team that has so many years of experience," she said, highlighting Santana, a long-time member of TTO's entourage.

"And therefore, we are confident things will work, we will be safe and all the athletes who go to the games will surely have the best conditions to perform in.

"I know every day is a new day. It is dynamic with covid19. But the IOC are also dealing with it every day, (as well as) the Japanese government and the Local Organising Committee.

"The IOC has done many, many webinars and protocols for all members of the teams, whether it's athletes and officials, whether it's the technical officials, and they are called playbooks and this information is widely published," Knott said.

The IOC says the playbooks are the basis of its "collective game plan to ensure that all Olympic and Paralympic Games participants and the people of Tokyo and Japan are safe and healthy this summer."

It outlines the responsibilities of all participants and the rules which must be followed, starting two weeks before travel, throughout the games and to departure.

"Each and every one of us plays an integral role in ensuring that these Games are safe and successful for all, and we encourage you to lead by example, following these rules, in your day-to-day activities. The newest version will be released later this month."

In terms of the athletes' personal preparation and the associated expenses, Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe said Cabinet had demonstrated the government's support for Team TTO by releasing $20 million.

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"Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee president Lewis: Fear of covid19 should not paralyse us"

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