As memories of Rio 2016 fade, the sting of negativity surrounding T&T's performance persists.
There was no shortage of puerile, less-than-clever memes targeting gymnast Marisa Dick.
Trinis, goaded by social media commentators and agents provocateurs, rallied against the Canadian gymnast for having purportedly used duplicity, her complexion and witchcraft to cheat the martyred Thema Williams out of a spot on the grand stage.
The furore reached a deafening pitch with "team Thema" appending to their toxic opinions, #standup.
There was, though, very little to demonstrate what constituted this #standingup, just a lot of #stinkmoutonfacebook and #venting though the anonymity of the web because.
One person wrote, "Now that Dick is gone I can put my full support behind the team."
Not everyone has come to accept, as I have, that Facebook is a place where there are many foolish people on parade because their online expressions of stupidity can't survive the demanding atmosphere of the real world.
Unfortunately for the Olympic athletes who push the limits of endurance for the glory of their country, it is difficult for them to understand people's motivations in posting demeaning, hurtful online comments directed at them.
It was heartbreaking to listen to javelinist Keshorn Walcott in an interview after having clinched his bronze medal.
"I know people have been coming down harsh on the Trinidad and Tobago athletes but I hope this (bronze medal) can give them an ease up," he said.
This conjured thoughts of our athletes competing, not just with the best in their field, but the leaden shoes in which they were shod courtesy the oppressive psychology of the Facebook jackass brigade.
Those disappointed with Keshorn's performance could benefit from a dose of perspective. He qualified for the final with a throw of 88.68 metres, which is incredible by any standards. Compare this with the throw that earned him gold in the 2012 London Olympics which was 84.58 metres. This time around he was unable to match his qualifying round distance with his turn in the final, taking bronze with a throw of 85.38 metres. This is still a considerable improvement on his 2012 victory. You just can't be sure how it's going to go on the day of competition. World javelin champion Julius Yego was leading in the group but injury thwarted his bid for gold and he captured silver instead.
Coming to the athletes defence was Chef De Mission of T&T's Olympic team Dr Ian Hypolite, who described the team's performance as creditable.
Taking on the criticisms, he pointed out: "people don't have a sense of what it takes to make it to the final."
Dr Hypolite may be, at this time, working on his own defence as public focus shifts to the performance of the TTOC management in the Rio Olympics.
Without trotting out too many statistics (it isn't really the focus of the column) our athletes did perform reasonably well. Could we have done better? Of course.
This global contest is an exhibition of athletic enterprise at the highest levels, with the apparent exception of boxing.
While most athletes surely have realistic expectations, it is doubtful any of them went there just to march in the opening ceremony.
Perhaps members of the public who felt let down by the side thought the athletes should have been more contrite in defeat. Still, as reactions to defeat go, T&T was certainly not on the upper end of disproportionate.
The Olympics is about winning medals and this country needs to determine how we can provide the support our athletes need to achieve their best.
It is also time to start cultivating future generations of Olympians in our primary schools. This country also needs to develop a cadre of coaches who can mould young potential into a crop of world beaters.
It would be interesting to know, of all the armchair and keyboard critics, how many of them paid money and shouted themselves hoarse in support of budding athletes at local sports meets. We must lift up our athletes all the way to the podium, not after they've gotten there.
Our team's disappointment in Rio should be used as a catalyst to overhaul our approach to athletics. We must source the right talent to focus our ambitions and rise above our affinity for bacchanal with tried and true methods applied elsewhere in the world.
The failures of our Olympic team are the failures of ourselves. Nothing else works in this country, not governance, healthcare, national security, public services, education; why are we placing a burden of excellence on our athletes when we aren't are prepared to do the same for ourselves as a nation?