Six Trinidad and Tobago athletes to return from Olympics on August 14

SIX members of the TT's 17-strong contingent from the 2024 Paris Olympics, along with eight team officials, will return to this country on August 14.

Lovie Santana-Duke, who was TT's chef de mission for the July 26-August 11 games, told Newsday the contingent includes sprinters Akilah Lewis and Devin Augustine, quarter-milers Elijah Joseph and Renny Quow, and veteran Michelle-Lee Ahye, one of TT's flagbearers for the opening ceremony in Paris.

They will land at Piarco International Airport at approximately 3.10 pm on August 14.

Swimmer Dylan Carter, who competed in the men's 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle events at the Paris Olympics, is expected to arrive at 3.55 pm that day.

Santana-Duke said the remaining 11 athletes are either en route or have already returned to their respective overseas bases.

On August 11, TT's hopes of a podium finish in Paris were dashed when ace cyclist Nicholas Paul was eliminated from the quarterfinal round in the men's keirin event. On the previous day, Paul's teammate Kwesi Browne saw his participation at the games come to an end with a nasty fall in the repechage of the keirin event.

TT finished the Olympics without a medal for the second straight edition, after also returning empty-handed from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

TT's last Olympic medal came at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, where 2012 gold medallist Keshorn Walcott bagged bronze in the men's javelin event.

In Paris, Walcott was one of only two TT athletes to make it to the final in their event, throwing a season's best distance of 86.16 metres to place seventh in the javelin final.

On August 7, Jereem Richards put in TT's most impressive performance at the games when he ran a national record of 43.78 seconds in the men's 400-metre final. Unfortunately for him, his blistering run earned him fourth place – narrowly finishing behind Zambia's Muzala Samukonga (43.74).

Both Augustine and Ahye exited their respective 100m events in their opening round, with the latter slamming some TT fans for their lack of support.

In her first Olympic Games, the 23-year-old Lewis lined up alongside Leah Bertrand and twins Sanaa and Sole Frederick for the women's 4x100m. However, TT finished a disappointing last in the semifinal heat.

Quow, 36, arguably had an Olympic experience to forget, as his shoe fell off midway through his first-leg run in the TT men's 4x400m semifinal heat on August 9. The TT quartet of Quow, Richards, Jaden Marchan and Shakeem McKay finished well behind the pack in their heat, in three minutes, 7.63 seconds (3:06.73).

The 23-year-old Joseph was an unused reserve for TT's 4x400m team. He finished fifth in the 400m final at the NGC National Association of Athletics Administrations Junior and Senior Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on June 29.

The officials expected to return with the athletes are: Santana-Duke, Verne Alleyne (physiotherapist), athletic coach Charles Joseph, manager Dexter Voisin, welfare officer Maria Thomas, social media official Melanie Gulston and massage therapists Brent Elder and Keisha Fraser.