Ryan Bachoo
Lead Editor – Newsgathering
ryan.bachoo@cnc3.co.tt
The Olympic Games is set to kick off (officially) on Friday in the fashion capital of the world, Paris. The last time the European city hosted these Games was 100 years ago in 1924.
However, T&T’s first participation at the modern Olympics was in 1948 when London hosted the event. Since then, the twin-island nation has won 19 medals at these Games including three gold medals, five silver and 11 bronze.
Below, we take a look at the some of the crowning moments of Olympic glory for T&T’s athletes on the world stage.
London, 1948
– Rodney Wilkes etched his name into history by winning this country’s first medal at an Olympics. He was a weightlifter and won silver medal in the Men’s Featherweight division. He was pipped by Egyptian, Mahmoud Fayad, who won the gold. He would go on to win bronze four years later in the same category.
Tokyo, 1964
– Enter athletics. The lion’s share (15) of T&T’s Olympic medals has come from the sport of track and field. In 1964, the country won three Olympic medals and it all came from athletics. Wendell Mottley took silver in the Men’s 400 metres event while he was part of the Men’s 4×400 team that won bronze. Edwin Roberts also won bronze in the Men’s 200 metres.
Montreal, 1976
– Crawford conquers the world. Though T&T went through two Olympic cycles after 1964 without winning a medal, Canada would prove to be a turning point. Hasely Crawford, running in the Men’s 100 metre event would go on to win this country’s first Olympic gold medal. He clocked 10.06 seconds in the final to win the gold.
Atlanta, 1996
– Ato announces himself. After Hasely Crawford’s gold medal in 1976, this country wouldn’t win another Olympic medal for 20 years. Ato Boldon would break the streak when he won two bronze medals in Atlanta. He placed third in both the Men’s 100 and 200 metre events. He would go on to win silver and bronze in the 2000 Olympics as well.
Sydney, 2004
– Bovell bags bronze. At the Games in Australia, T&T won its first swimming Olympic medal when George Bovell captured bronze in the Men’s 200m individual medley race. He was the lone medalist from this country for those Games.
Beijing, 2008
– Bolt takes Beijing by storm. While the story of the Beijing Olympics belonged to Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, T&T had its own fable at the Games. While Richard Thompson ran down Usain Bolt in the Men’s 100m event to take the silver (which probably felt like gold given Bolt’s prominence), the 4×1 team took silver behind the Jamaicans as well. However, in January 2017, the International Olympic Committee said re-analysis of team member Nesta Carter’s Beijing sample had tested positive for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine. T&T would subsequently awarded its second Olymnpic gold medal.
London, 2012
– Cometh the hour. Cometh Keshorn. Keshorn Walcott was largely an unknown figure headed to the London Games in 2012. He would return to T&T a household name. The boy from Toco landed gold in the men’s javelin event throwing 84.58m to stun the world. Lalonde Gordon would also win a silver in the men’s 400m. The Men’s 4×1m relay team also won silver medal while the Men’s 4×4m relay team won bronze.
Rio, 2016
Walcott bags bronze. Defending his Olympic crown four years later, Keshorn Walcott landed bronze with a throw of 85.38m