Jamaica's Olympic women's 200m silver medallist Olympian Grace Jackson will be the guest speaker at the NAAA's Women's Symposium at the Crown Plaza Hotel from 9 am this morning. The theme of the symposium is Believe in Yourself. The workshop which runs until 3 pm, is geared to bring about a greater awareness among women and focusing on helping women improve themselves.NAAA Women's Committee chairman Lucretia Burns said Jackson has been a source of inspiration to her since they first met at an IAAF's Women's Seminar in Miami, USA in 2010.
Burns added that Jackson expressed her willingness to come to T&T to speak on the women's issues. Burns, who is an NAAA Committee member said the symposium is open to young women between the ages of 12 to 19 and invitations have been sent out to all the athletic clubs across the country. Burns added that interest to attend has been great with people who are not in clubs desirous to participate.Jackson finished second to American Florence Griffith Joyner in the women's 200m finals at the 1998 Seoul Games in 21.74 seconds.
Griffith Joyner won a world record time of 21.34 seconds. The two time World indoor medallist is now First Vice President of the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA) and was Technical Leader of the country's World Championships team in Daegu, South Korea earlier this year. The three time Olympian is a member of the IAAF Women's Committee and is championing the welfare of women in athletics and is encouraging them to be more actively involved in athletics from all levels, not just on the track. Jackson holds a Masters of Arts (Queen's College, New York) and Masters of Sports Management (US Sports Academy) and is the Student Development Director at the University of West Indies, Mona Campus. Grace Jackson will co-facilitate the symposium along with Lucia Reyes Principal, Belmont Boys Secondary School, Port-of-Spain and Geraldine Hunt of the Family Planning Unit.