Top national women’s sprinter Kelly-Ann Baptiste says knowing that Trinidad and Tobago’s women’s 4x100 metre (m) relay team has a chance to make history at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games is one of her biggest motivations.
Baptiste, along with all her fellow national athletes, will compete from 6 pm today until Sunday at the NAAA NGC/Sagicor National Open Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain in an effort to qualify for the Olympics which runs from August 5 to 21.
The national women’s 4x100m relay team of Baptiste, Michelle- Lee Ahye, Semoy Hackett and Reyare Thomas created history with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Beijing last year in a national record time of 42.03 seconds. It was this country’s first relay medal in the women’s 4x100m event at the World Championships.
Baptiste says the women’s relay team has an excellent chance to earn this country’s first ever women’s 4x100m relay Olympic medal. She said, “Our chances are great. Building up on what we did last year I think all the girls are excited to be there and have the opportunity to bring back our country’s first Olympic medal in 4x100 for women. I think that for me is one of my biggest motivations knowing that we have a chance to make history.” Baptiste is anticipating the National Championships this weekend.
“It is always an exciting time to come home, everybody likes to come home and compete. The crowd is always electric and energising so I am looking forward to it.” Baptiste said her Olympic preparations started slowly but believes she is progressing. “It (Olympic preparations) is going great.
I was off to a bit of a slow start but I am really confident that things are going to pull through when they need to. I am just training, plugging away coming into this trials and excited to compete against my fellow country- mates and looking forward to Rio.”