To have expected anything more than was offered by our athletes who have advanced in their respective events would have been considered hanging our hats too high. Keshorn Walcott, the junior champion in the javelin, whose best distance ever was 82.83 metres, actually fell short with his decisive throw of 81.75. However, he was able to make the final because of the moderate distances that were thrown by all the competitors. This youngster is presently tenth going into the final and despite the maturity of his opponents, it would be unreasonable to doubt his final placing. Wayne Davis did not make it to the final in the 110-metre hurdle event, but his time in the semifinal was 13.49 seconds, much improved from his heat when he ran 13.52 seconds. Maybe not quite ready for the bright lights of an Olympics at such a young age, but one gets the impression that a bright future is ahead, especially if he is given the technical and financial support for the entire period.
Before the start of the track and field events, many felt that our women will be our main strength, and while we cannot fault Kelly Ann Baptiste in her effort to win a medal in the 100-metre final, the rest of the group did not seem to have the stamina and footspeed to match the likes of Allyson Felix, Shelly Ann Frazier Pryce, Carmelita Jetter and Sanya Richards-Ross. Semoy Hackett can vouch for that, as she saw five world-class athletes streaming towards the finish line. T&T did not have a qualifier in the final of the men's 200-metre and maybe just as well. There was hardly ever anyone who could challenge the Jamaican athletes Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Warren Weir for the final. Bolt ran his semifinal as though it was an afternoon trot around the park. He did not whistle and that would have been insulting the opponents.
Although we were able to witness pride among the British fans who walked around London as if they wanted to send a signal to those who did not expect Britain to win so many gold medals. They deserve their success and when matched with their excellent organisation in all areas, they may have sent some valuable lessons on sports management to the other countries of the world especially the Third-world minors. The Concacaf countries can be very pleased with the performances of Mexico and Honduras, their two qualifiers. Not only did the latter reach the final eight succumbing to Brazil, but Mexico worked their way to the final against the samba lads. This means that football's gold medal will go to a country which has never won one. Congrats to both these countries and the quality of play has certainly been appreciated.