Team Grenada opens pre-Olympic Games camp in Sunderland

by Michael Bascombe

SUNDERLAND, UK, July 3, 2012 – Members of the Grenada team for the Olympics Games in London have begun assembling for the first of two camps which officially opened on Monday.

Three athletes - Kurt Felix (Decathlon), Joel Redhead (200m), Neisha Bernard-Thomas (800m) – moved into Sunderland University for a pre-Olympic Games training camp.

They were also joined by chef de mission Conrad Francis, national coach Albert Joseph, and Felix’ coach Jeff Petersmeyer.

They will spend the next week training at the University’s modern facilities in preparation for the Games opening on July 27.

The other members of the team – Rondell Bartholomew (400m), Kirani James (400m), Kanika Beckles (400m), Paul Williams (100m), Janelle Williams (200m) and Esau Simpson (swimmer) - will join the camp on July 11 at the Broadbridge Heath Leisure centre near Horsham District in West Sussex. Andrea St. Bernard (Taekwondo) will join the team on July 25.

Simpson will be the first among his team members to see competitive action. The swimming competition starts on July 28 while track and field and taekwondo begin on August 3 and 8 respectively.

Grenada's Athletic Chief confident of 4x400m Relay Team

File Photo/Bascombe

by Michael Bascombe

ST GEORGE’S, June 14, 2012 – The Grenada Athletics Association (GAA) is pulling out all stops to ensure that a 4x400m Relay team qualifies for the Olympic Games in London.

In the most recent Best Relay Performances issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Grenada is 20^th among the top relay teams. However, only the top 16 teams will qualify for the Games, opening on July 27.

The IAAF will announce the 16 teams to qualify on July 3, based on the aggregate of the two fastest times achieved in the qualification period of January 1, 2011 to July 2, 2012.

Officials of the GAA and the Grenada Olympic Committee (GOC) have been discussing with Grenadian quarter-milers the possibility of entering a relay team for the 2012 Sagicor Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior Track and Field Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port-of-Spain next weekend.

World 400m champion Kirani James, along with finalist Rondell Bartholomew, Bralon Taplin and Joel Redhead are the athletes who are expected to make the trip to Trinidad.

Bartholomew, who has not run competitively for the season and Taplin are also expected to compete in the individual 400 metres.

President of the GAA, Charles George is confident that Grenada’s 4x400m relay team will be in the top 16 by the July 2 deadline.

“This is our best opportunity but hinges on the availability of our top athletes,” he said. “As it is, that is a possibility since Rondell (Bartholomew) has indicated his availability for competition coming off an injury”.

Taplin, who has Grenadian roots, is a new entry to the relay team but will be attempting to lower his personal best of 45.36 seconds. His target is to better the Olympic “A” Standard of 45.30.

George said that the GAA has been in regular contact with both James and Bartholomew along with their coaches and agents but declined to give specifics. He said that it is customary for the association (GAA) to keep in constant contact with the athletes and their management team, and especially in the lead up to major events like the World Championships and Olympics.

At the Penn Relays in Philadelphia in April, the team of Redhead, James, Kevin Bowen and Keron Toussaint was 12^th overall in 3:08.85. James had a second-leg split of 43.8 seconds.

Seven athletes have already qualified for the London Olympics. They are James (Men’s 400m), Bartholomew (Men’s 400m), Kanika Beckles (Women’s 400m), Redhead (Men’s 200m), Kurt Felix (Men’s Decathlon), Janelle Redhead (Women’s 200m) and Neisha Bernard-Thomas (Women’s 800m).

The team will also include Andrea St Bernard (Taekwondo) and Esau Simpson with a wildcard in swimming.

Another Grenadian athlete makes Olympic team

Neisha Bernard-Smith

NASHVILLE, TN June 3, 2012 - Neisha Bernard-Smith attained a B Standard Qualifying time in the Women’s 800 metre for the London Olympic Games, starting next month.

Bernard-Smith won the Women’s 800m Invitational at the Music City Distance Carnival hosted at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN on Saturday. Her time of 2:01.21 is a season best and Meet Record (2:01.81) and also better than the Olympic B Standard of 2:01.30.

Last month she ran 2:01.91 at a meet in Los Angeles. However, her personal best is 1:59.60 which she ran in Kingston, Jamaica on May 1, 2010.

The other Olympic-bound athletes so far are Kirani James, Rondell Bartholomew and Kanika Beckles (400m); Joel Redhead (200m); Kurt Felix (Decathlon); and Andrea St Bernard (Taekwondo).

The Distance Carnival is perennially one of the strongest gatherings of middle-distance and long-distance runners in the United States.

The event draws athletes from all over North America and routinely attracts U.S-based National record holders and Olympians from other countries.

The 2012 meet saw runners travel from 24 different U.S states and two Canadian provinces, and also a total of 15 different nations represented with many runners looking to stamp their tickets to the London Olympics later this summer.
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Let's start the conversation

by Michael Bascombe

In a matter of weeks, some of our most cherished and celebrated athletes will be flying the national colours at the Olympic Games in London, and with all the recent disappointing news stealing the spotlight it is a good time to look to our sportsmen and women for encouragement and hope.

There are a number of athletes who are putting all their time and effort into improving their standings or attempting to qualify in their respective events.

Chief among them are Kirani James, Rondell Bartholomew, Joel Redhead, Kurt Felix, Kanika Beckles and Andrea St Bernard (Taekwondo).

We are traveling to Eugene, OR this weekend for a star-studded line-up of athletes at the 38^th Prefontaine Classic meet at Hayward Field.

Of interest to Grenada would be the Men’s 400m which is considered a dress rehearsal for the Olympic 400 metres rivalry involving the reigning Olympic champion and world leader LaShawn Merritt; the 2004 Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner and the reigning World champion Kirani James.

And hopefully next weekend we could see Rondell Bartholomew competes for the first time in 2012. There are indications that he may open his season at the adidas Grand Prix in New York on June 9.

That same weekend, Kanika Beckles and Kurt Felix will be competing in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Beckles, in particular, has shown remarkable improvement over the past five (5) months.

Consider the athlete running 53 and 54 seconds in March and under the guidance of Alleyne Francique is a leading contender among college athletes with a personal best of 51.72 a few weeks ago.

The hope is that my colleagues will find some time to give attention to the athletes’ preparations and performances through their regular bulletins, blogging, and social media. We are sometimes blamed for fuelling the negatives. Why not assist in changing the “conversation”? By doing that you may also educate our population about a competitor’s preparation for an international event as the Olympic Games.

My best wishes to our sportsmen and women as they continue their journey. 

Here is a guide to what some of our athletes have or attempting to achieve.

200m (Men 20.55 A, 20.65 B) (Women 23.10 A, 23.30 B),

400m (Men 45.30 A, 45.90 B) (Women 51.55 A, 52.35 B),

400mH (Men 49.50 A, 49.80 B)

800m (Women 1:59.90 A, 2:01.30 B)

Decathlon (8200 A, 7950 B)

Long Jump (Men 8.20 A, 8.10 B) (Women 6.75 A, 6.65 B)

Triple Jump (Men 17.20 A, 16.85 B) (Women 14.30 A, 14.10 B)

Top 16 teams 4x400m (As of May 20, 2012, Grenada was ranked 18^th with an aggregate of 6:08.96 and an average of 3:04.48).

According to the IAAF, athletes must reach the standards as set by the IAAF during the following prescribed periods:

     -   10,000m, Marathon, Race Walk and Combined Events: 1 January 2011 to 8 July 2012

     -   All other individual events: 1 May 2011 to 8 July 2012

     -   Relays: 1 January 2011 to 2 July 2012
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Grenadian parliamentarian urging nationals to support Olympians

File Photo: Sen. Arley Gill

by Michael Bascombe

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, March 27, 2012 - A Grenadian Parliamentarian is urging his nationals to support their Olympians for the London 2012 Olympic Games this summer.

Senator Arley Gill, who is also the Culture Minister in the Grenada Government, said that this is the best opportunity for Grenada to medal at the Olympic Games, scheduled for July 27 to August 12, 2012.

“I believe that the entire nation must start rallying around our athletes for the 2012 Olympics. Not just Kirani (James) but Rondell (Bartholomew) and all the other athletes in 2012,” Senator Gill told a sitting of the Grenada Senate on Tuesday.

“August 2012 could very well be a watershed moment in the development of the country”.

Senator Gill suggested that a “Mini-Carnival” for the Olympics would be an excellent marketing strategy for the country.

“Those of us recalled that when Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the FIFA World Cup Finals in Germany that they send soca artistes and masqueraders,” he said.

Trinidad and Tobago, also known as the Soca Warriors, currently holds the record of being the smallest country to ever qualify for a FIFA World Cup Finals

“I think we need to do something on a smaller scale in London for 2012 Olympics”.

He said that with the recent success of Kirani James, sports tourism represents an exciting economic frontier for harvesting. “We must therefore support our national sportsmen and women in the different disciplines,” said Gill.

Five Grenadians – four in athletics and one in taekwondo - have already gained qualifying standards for the London 2012 Olympics. James, who is the current World 400 metres champion and Bartholomew, also a finalist at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Deagu, are among favourites in the Men’s quarter-mile.

Janelle Redhead and her brother Joel are the other two athletes to have earned qualifying times while Andrea St Bernard will be the first ever taekwondo athlete to represent Grenada at the Olympic Games.

Grenada set sights on medals in Athletics at Pan American Games 2011

by Michael Bascombe

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, October 17, 2011 - Grenada’s hopes of medalling at the Pan American Games 2011 will now rest with athletics as both competitors in Swimming and Taekwondo failed to advance to the next round of their respective competitions.

Esau Simpson finished seventh in Heat 1 of the Men’s 100m Freestyle Preliminaries on Sunday while Andre St. Bernard lost in Bout 10 of the Women’s Under 67kg in the quarter-finals on Monday.

Simpson, swimming out of Lane 1, fell about six seconds off the winner, Brett Fraser of the Cayman Islands. Simpson, who finished 22^nd overall, clocked 54.73 seconds with 25.60 seconds for his first 50 metres.

World record holder Cesar Cielo of Brazil took the gold in a new personal record of 47.84 seconds, to better his previous best of 48.79 set in Rio de Janeiro four years ago. His world record stands at 46.91 seconds set in Italy in 2009.

In Taekwondo, St. Bernard was never a major threat to Carolina Acosta of Mexico and lost 11-2, all points earned by attack.

Acosta led 1-0 in the first quarter, 5-0 in the second and although St. Bernard fought back in the third quarter to score two points, Acosta added another five to tally 11.

St. Bernard is a bronze medallist at the 2008 Pan American Taekwondo Championships in Puerto Rico and also a second round contender at the 2008 Taekwondo World Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Track and Field begin next week with Keron Toussaint (Men’s 400m) and Allison George (Women’s 100m) in competition next Monday (October 24). George will also compete in the Women’s 200m, while Kanika Beckles starts her campaign in the Women’s 400m on Tuesday (October 25) and Joel Redhead in the Men’s 200m on Wednesday (October 26).