Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Trini Tuesday-Run Like the Wind

It's been a long time since I did a Trini Tuesday post. My long-time readers will recall it as a regular feature here for the first year and a half of the blog. To introduce newer readers I will just say I lived there for about a year (and Calypso was born there) and fell in love with the people and culture.

Sunday morning (Beijing time) Richard Thompson (center) took the silver medal in the men's 100m final.
*Image from Getty Images



He was joined in the final by fellow Trini Marc Burns who finished 7th in the race.
*Image from Getty images



One of NBCs commentators for men's track is none other that Trinidad & Tobago's own Ato Bolden, who took home the bronze medal in the men's 100m and 200m finals during the 1996 Summer Olympics.*Image taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk

In 2004 this was written:
These are special times for sprinters from the small Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago. No country, big or small, has produced 100 metres times faster this year than the marks of young Trinidadians Richard Thompson and Kelly-Ann Baptiste. Students at Louisiana State University (LSU), the pair have sprinted to the top of the 2008 world-leader list with sparkling early-season times. ( source: http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fWe87X53ldRH)*Image from http://www.guardian.co.tt

Not too shabby for a nation of just over 1 million, huh?

23 comments:

(M)ary said...

yahtzee

(M)ary said...

wow that is an impressive collection of athletes. honestly, i wish our media would tell more stories like this one rather than focusing exclusively on one athlete (Phelps!)

furiousBall said...

i think that lady on the bottom does sit ups or something

SignGurl said...

Go Trini!!!

Breazy said...

I saw that and it made me think of you! I am a lover of the Olympics, the only thing I don't watch is like the basketball, fencing..etc...

Go Trinidad!

barman said...

(m)ary, I think, at least what I have watched, they seem to tell more stories in the evening. I know I personally want to see the sports and not hear the stories.

I can not believe how fast all the runners are. I have been blown away by their speed. And now I am blown away by the collection of athletes from a small country. Amazing.

G-Man said...

They get lots of practice running from the Hurricanes!!
Welcome back Trini Tuesday!!
xox

Anonymous said...

The sprint finals were lovely to watch. Reading the reports about doping, and how many substances cannot be detected... yet, is a damper though.

It's a pity, because even athletes who are clean have to live with the skepticism.

Mona said...

LOL! @ Signgurl!

Not shabby at all.

Talk about Shabby...
Both India and China have a population of 1.2 billion, & in the last Olympics, China won over 300 gold & India won only three medals in all! :D

EmBee said...

It's the Jamaicans who are blowing me away! What is it in Jamaica that has all these people running so fast? And are they running TO it or AWAY from it?

EmBee said...

Barman, it's all about the stories for me. It makes it all the more personal to hear of the challenges some of these athletes face to become the best!

S said...

I'm still waitin' fo my Eritreans to represent....sigh.....
Still waiting...sigh...


:P

Anonymous said...

I saw the Trini runners and thought of you :)

Logophile said...

Go, Trinadad and Tobago, go!
Glad you dusted on Trini Tuesdays to cover ths

Ed & Jeanne said...

Awesome. But you know that second photo...if I ran that fast I'd need to take a dump too...

Anonymous said...

I've been watching these sprints... it can't really be as easy as it looks!

Fred said...

I'm amzaed at the hurdlers. It's amazing how they can run that fast and jump at the same time.

TorAa said...

I'm so impressed and filled with joy by the excellent performance by the Sprinters from Caribia. I even felt some tears when realizing their success over - say no more.... (Small Nations----)

btw.
By the way, I have nominated you for an Award. I'm not the blogger that do that very often, but at this occasion, you were among the choosen.
http://toraamusic.blogspot.com

Bijoux said...

It does seem much more impressive for a small nation to do so well. I'm looking forward to more Trini Tuesdays. I've always thought it looked like a neat place to visit. The closest I've gotten was Nevis, another island with endearing folks!

Commander Zaius said...

Haven't been watching much of the games, except woman's beach volleyball, but I've always been more interested in the less well known athletes from other smaller countries. The glamorous "major stars" I think sometimes take away something from the overall Olympic spirit.

Trinidad Rocks.

Craver Vii said...

Those are some killer abs in the last photo, eh? But I'm not doing too bad in that region, myself. If I had to describe it, I'd say that if a six-pack is good, a keg must be better! I have a good, solid, barrel thing happening around the midsection. Okay, maybe it's not solid, it's kinda jiggly.

Um... yeah, so we were saying how amazing it is, that such a small population produces these astonishing results!

Queenie said...

I have respect for every single one of them. We don't seem to be doing to badly this year either. The young woman who has won the two golds in swimming, lives very close to me so I have been interested her events.

San said...

WOW! These athletes dazzle me. And your Trinidad connection makes it even more special. That must be one determined place.