Caption: From left, Jereem Richards, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Keshorn Walcott celebrate T&T’s athletic excellence at a ceremony on Tuesday at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s. AZP News/Alicia Chamely
By Alicia Chamely
WORLD Athletics Championship gold medallist Keshorn Walcott will be awarded $500,000 by the state, and silver medallist Jereem Richards will receive $250,000.
This was announced on Tuesday by Prime Minister Kamala Persad-Bissessar at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, where a special reception was held for Walcott, Richards and the CPL Champions the Trinidad Knight Riders (TKR).
Persad-Bissessar further announced the newly reopened North Eastern Regional Multipurpose Sport Facility in Sangre Grande, the largest multi-sport facility in the country, would be renamed the Keshorn Walcott Multipurpose Sport Facility. This honour received a surprise and impressed now of approval from the usually straight-faced athlete.
Additionally, Persad-Bissessar said, “Keshorn, we think you will serve very well as a sport ambassador for Trinidad and Tobago.”
Noting that this position entitled Walcott to a diplomatic passport, the prime minister said, “We hope to work with you to mentor our younger ones, to help train and do some mentoring in that field (javelin), because you have such great experience and such gallantry to share with the rest of the youths.”
Turning to Richards, who copped a silver medal in the men’s 400m final, shattering the national record, Persad-Bissessar said, according to cabinet policy, he would receive $250,000.
Giving an address at the ceremony, Walcott joked with the members of the TKR, saying, “In another life I always said I wanted to be a cricketer, so maybe it will happen, maybe,” laughing.
Discussing his role as a newly appointed sports ambassador for T&T, he said, “Now that I am also being honoured to be sports ambassador, I will be putting my best foot forward.”
“I am very passionate when it comes to the younger athletes,” he continued, “I think this is a great opportunity for me to step up and make a big difference.”
Richards addressed the achievements of not only himself and Walcott, but also that of the TKR, saying, “It has been a blessed week for Trinidad and Tobago.”
“Our country deserves greatness,” he continued passionately, “Our country is greatness.”
He called on the government to continue giving its support to athletics in T&T, saying, “We have the ability, we have the potential, and going forward we all as athletes should be model citizens, role models for all the generations going forward, so that they can see how great we are as a country.”
