Govt rejects Olympic relay team's US$5k monthly proposal

DAVID SCARLETT

We are not greedy, we want what we deserve!

The victorious 2008 TT 4x100m Olympic relay men on Tuesday evening expressed disappointment in Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe's response to their call for recognition and reward for their achievement.

The team initially earned silver at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, but were retroactively awarded gold following Jamaica's disqualification for a doping violation by Nesta Carter. TT's gold medal was officially awarded in 2022 at a reallocation ceremony at the Olympic Museum in Switzerland.

Since then, the team consisting of 2008 Olympic 100m silver medallist Richard Thompson, Marc Burns Keston Bledman, Emmanuel Callender and Aaron Armstrong say the government has “swept the victory under the rug." They said not even a cocktail reception was held to honour them.

In July 2022, two members of the team met Cudjoe to discuss plans to develop track and field in the country as well as possible rewards for their upgraded gold. Despite submitting a written proposal as well as a digital copy, government has not responded since talks ended around August/September last year.

In Parliament on Monday Cudjoe said the athletes advocated for a stipend to be paid to them for the rest of their lives. She said this was "challenging" given the economic climate. She told Newsday on Wednesday that they wanted US$5,000 per month.

The Ministry of Sport on Tuesday also released a statement on Tuesday which noted that the members of the 2008 relay team received a total of $750,000 each for their silver medal achievement in 2008. This is more than the $500,000 reward currently obtained under the approved National Incentives and Rewards Framework.

Last year, the team also received US$40,000 each from the TT Olympic Committee as part of its medal bonus incentive.

The relay men held another virtual conference on Tuesday evening to respond to Cudjoe.

Burns said, “Hearing the response from the minister was quite disturbing for us. She took part of the (previous) press conference to retaliate....(and) the way in which she addressed it was not respectful.

“We never got any formal congratulations from any of the dignitaries or sporting bodies till this day, and we let that slide. The minster's address to us was one-sided and not respectful. Us coming forward is just us saying that we want some level of respect.”

Bledman, who did not speak at the first press conference, added: “I also think that the minister’s response was disappointing. This team has been competing together at the highest level (for about eight years) – going out on the track (running) in pain.

“In 2012 (at the London Olympics), Richard (Thompson) and I ended up at the hospital after the 4x100m relay. I underwent a groin surgery, which I never spoke about. Yes, when we received our medals for 2008, we were (financially) rewarded, but this is not about the money, (contrary to) what the minister and media are trying to make it about. They are making us look greedy and that’s not our motive.”

Armstrong said Cudjoe's response felt like a "slap in the face."

He said, “I don’t think she really knows us. If we were walking down the street she wouldn’t know us. In her first interview, she said ‘I don’t know anything about sport’ – that says a lot.

"The work that we did throughout the years, she doesn’t know . So for her to sit down and say we that only want money… it was never about the money. It’s about the opportunity we can give these kids (of TT).”

“They don’t care anything about these kids because for her to imply that they’re not going to support the pioneers of this sport, that’s a slap in the face. She’s doing that deliberately because it took her one day to respond, whereas she previously didn’t respond to us for a year.”

Armstrong said the athletes want to see TT back on the international stage.

“Don’t make it seem like we need money and we want to sit down and receive this money and not do anything. We’re not here begging, we’re not here saying that we just want a handout."

Thompson said he would have appreciated if officials were up front with the athletes in the first place. "She’s now insinuating that there is no chance of anything being done. I understand whatever their stance is but I value honesty and respect.”

“I prefer that if they had known that there was absolutely nothing that could have been done since then, she could have said that and not string us along to make us believe that there was some special reward that was going to be presented to us.”