Grenadians turned out in their thousands on Sunday, to in relative terms, celebrate a ‘pot’ of medals at the just concluded Paris summer Olympics with team members and coaches being honored at public ceremony where cash and material gifts were also handed out and after a motorcade that had snaked its way through various city streets whipping up a level of national fervor perhaps not seen since independence 50 years
With a population of just over 125,000, the federation with Petite Martinique and Carricaou won two bronze medals through javelin thrower Anderson Peters and another via Lindon Victor who tallied 8,771 points to place third and also pick up a bronze in the grueling decathlon multi format competition.
Put in proper context, the Grenadian contingent did far better than a number of global powers including Nigeria, the giant of the African continent which failed to win a medal of any color despite its superior sporting infrastructure, a population of 218 million people and its greater experience of attending and participating in previous Olympics.
Until a few weeks ago, national hero Kirani Zeno James, was the first and only local athlete to bring glory to the Eastern Caribbean nation that is just north of T&T. James had blazed to glory in the 400 meter sprint at the 2012 London Olympics, following up with a silver at Rio in Brazil in 2016 and a bronze in Tokyo in 2020, becoming the first man in his category to win all three medals in this marquee event. He qualified for the final in Paris but time appears to be catching up with him even as he pledges to continue competing for another few years.
On Sunday, the national hero took to the stage to remind authorities that they need to support the current and future crop of track and field athletes that will replace his generation and to all sporting disciplines in general as well.
“We have so much potential, you guys don’t even understand. It has not been easy. Hope we can get the support of everyone. The new sports policy is a huge incentive,” said James. “Those coming behind us have immense potential coming up. That policy is a huge incentive. It will help. Really and it is truly motivating. The two medalists they inspired.me. As long as we have that support, anything is possible. The sky is the limit. We do need the support,” he said to loud applause as Governor General Cecile La Grenade, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell and other dignitaries looked on.
Showing its gratitude to the contingent, government and corporate Grenada showed up for the Paris contingent with cash and material support.
James, Anderson, Lindon received US $100,000 from the government and coach Paul Phillip received $20,000. Others who had qualified for Paris but did not medal were not abandoned by authorities nor corporate Grenada. They were awarded $5,000 each. In addition to the $100,000 from government, Republic Bank Limited gave Kirani James just under $50,000, Peters about $46,000, while Lindon Victor picked up a Nissan Frontier vehicle valued at $62,730 from the George F. Huggins company. Victor is their brand ambassador.
Government also announced tax free importation for brand new vehicles for the winners, home purchase and construction incentives for them as well.
For his part, PM Mitchell in brief remarks thanked the Olympians “for the tremendous pride, confidence and inspiration you have placed in the hearts and minds of the next generation. You are our heroes, the ones who will continue to inspire and motivate us on 50th anniversary of self determination. We know we can walk, talk and outperform with the best of them. Congratulations to the fantastic representatives of OECS, Caribbean and black people everywhere. We came from a small island but competed with the best of them on the global stage. We have shown they are not better than you no matter how much resources they have. You deserve the awards, the celebration and the commendation. We must make sure we put in place infrastructure, our sport policy to make sure the next generation of athletes do not have to endure some of the trials and tribulations as you had to. We will do everything to make sure policy is implemented,” he said.
Other big nations, which did poorly or failed to medal included Bangladesh with a population of 174 million. It is yet to win a medal. Nearby Vietnam with 99 million “will have no cause to celebrate Paris, medal count – none. Nigeria with a contingent of 88 athletes to the games failed to gain even one medal etc etc. When it comes to gold medals these were even more elusive – big countries like India with 1.4 billion people did not get one.
“None to Mexico with its 127.5 million nor Democratic Republic of Congo,” said Wyvolyn Gager, the first woman to become the editor in chief of the Gleaner Newspaper in Jamaica, reputed to be the Caribbean’s oldest such publication.
