media_artricles :: 2013

Hypolite calls for more access to stadium

COACH of Trinidad and Tobago’s 400m hurdles world champion Jehue Gordon says Gordon’s success has come despite having challenges with using the Hasely Crawford Stadium to train.

Dr Ian Hypolite said the 2-year-old has not been able to use the facility in the first three months of the year. “At the start of the year we did not have the use of the stadium. We have had to beg and transport hurdles from the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium (in Marabella) to St Mary’s Grounds (in Port-of-Spain) that we use an alternative venue.

“In an event where technical precision is necessary we have had to improvise and could not get started with 400m hurdles until April.” Speaking on TV6s Morning Edition last week last Friday, Hypolite said while preparing to leave to compete overseas an official at the Hasely Crawford Stadium turned off the lights during a training session. He added that misunderstandings within the track and field fraternity are also contributing to the difficulty of doing well at home and he’s hoping Jehue’s success will help to change the scenario.

“Athletics like anything else in Trinidad and Tobago is fraught with internal conflicts, conflicts among the persons involved. Sometimes that becomes manifested in the worst ways and I think that that contributes to the immense difficulty of trying to produce here. People have their inherent attitude and jealousies. It certainly makes it a lot more difficult for us to succeed. We will definitely like to see a change in that.” Hypolite, who was the head coach of this country’s delegation to the World Championships in Moscow, Russia in August, added that his concern is not just for Gordon but with other athletes. “It is easy for Jehue if he wants to use the stadium they will make allowances for him but what about all the other people? If we are to attain sustainability we have to have access to the stadium.”

Another of Jehue’s coaches Edwin Skinner said many of the junior athletes are denied use of the Hasely Crawford Stadium in the beginning of each year as the facility is closed for Carnival events. He is optimistic that with the success of Olympic men’s javelin champion Keshorn Walcott and Gordon who both train at home there will be a prioritisation of venues in the country of athletes. Skinner, who won bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay at the 1964 Olympic there has not been sufficient support for successful athletes.

“We are like crabs in a barrel. Anyone who is successful we look for reasons to pull them down instead of trying to build on that success. After our success (finishing third in the men’s 4x400m at the 1964 Olympics) all these promises were made but because of the bickering of the people in charge (they were never materialised). If you want the right things to happen you have to have the right people doing the right things. Over the years we have not have that. We have had square pegs in round holes over the years. That is why we had not been successful and had that sustainability.” Skinner was also a member of the coaching staff of the World Championships team. Skinner and Hypolite are head coaches of the Memphis Pioneers Club of which Gordon is a member.

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