ATHLETICS

Local athletes will still get a chance to qualify for the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan despite the decision by the National Association of Athletics Administration of T&T (NAAATT) to not host the National Senior Championships due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

THE NATIONAL Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) is considering approaching the Ministry of Health to ascertain whether they can host a trial event for a small group of locally-based athletes within reach of achieving their respective Olympic qualification standards.

FORMER president of the National Association of Athletic Administrations (NAAA) Ephraim Serrette has taken up the role as special adviser to the Minister of Sport and Community Development, Shamfa Cudjoe.

A test track and field event, is set to be held by the end of this month or early next month to determine whether the National Championship of the National Association of Athletics Administrations of T&T (NAAA TT) can be held this year.

If this event takes place, athletes would only be allowed to compete in one event only, which is an initiative to prevent gathering and large numbers.

Like all other sports, the annual National Championship could not have been held last year due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Ephraim Serrette, the long-standing NAAAs president told Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday that in the midst of an expected challenging year, the clubs have found a way to continue training, but his administration has struggled to stage competitions:

"We are at present, developing a proposal to send through SporTT, to the Ministry of Health, to have a possible test-event by the end of this month to early February."

"We are going to make some adjustments to the requirements for competition. The Board of the NAAAs will meet this afternoon to make a final decision on that."

This event, according to Serrette, caters for two categories only, an under-17, which will include under-14s, u-15s, and 16-year-olds, and an open category. Serrette stressed that young athletes must fit into the age-groups specified to compete.

The event became necessary after Serrette pointed to government's permission a few months ago, for national teams to resume training, and for Olympic-bound athletes to prepare, thereby preventing his athletes from having the opportunity to train.

Due to this, he said his athletes were not getting enough training in, as they did not have a national team in training, but rather athletes training for the Olympics. "We don't have national teams in training, we have athletes who are preparing for Olympics, and the training is just not enough. They need to compete so that they can get a sense of how their programme is progressing, and to maintain sharpness," Serrette explained yesterday.

Meanwhile, athletes will only be allowed to compete in one race only, as the NAAAs attempt to maintain the social distancing protocol and avoid gathering.

"Clubs would have a maximum of five athletes to register for an event and athletes will only be required to participate in one event. So where in the past, athletes may have competed in two or three events, for this test-meet we are asking clubs to corporate with us, to enter into each event a maximum of five events, and athletes will be allowed to compete in one. As they compete they will be required to vacate the stadium," Serrette said.

Source

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