New West Indies coach Phil Simmons has decided that he will be the man standing between the West Indies senior team selection panel and his players.

The former West Indies opening batsman has asked the selection panel to inform him of any player who is dropped from the team, since he wants to be the person to convey the message.

Simmons, together with Test skipper Denesh Ramdin will join the other selectors Clive Lloyd (chairman), Eldine Baptiste, Courtney Walsh and Courtney Browne, to select the West Indies team to face Australia in two Test matches that will begin on June 3.

In the past, the selectors were the ones who relayed this information. However, in a new policy direction, Simmons says he wants to maintain a relationship with any player who no longer finds favour with the selectors.  He wants to keep the communication door between himself and his players open.

The former Test opener sees his role as keeping everyone in the know as far as where their careers are involved and instead of them learning in the media that they have been dropped, he wants to take a more caring role in terms of dealing with his players.

This has been well received by the players who have been able to rally around Simmons in his short tenure thus far. Simmons opened his account with a 1-1 draw in the three Test series against England in the Caribbean recently and has won the respect of his players according to insiders.

According to one insider, he has been tough, yet caring and the players have responded nicely to him. “The dressing room is a good place to be these days. Simmons has come in and has done a good job in holding good relations between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). He has shown that respect and care for his players but they have been made to understand that he is a no nonsense man and is using discipline as his key word in rebuilding this team.”

Simmons did wonders for Irish cricket during his nine years as coach, lifting them from   just another associate team, to one that was feared by several of the Test playing countries.

Simmons guided the Irish to victory over the West Indies in the recent World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

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Brian Lewis, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC), believes this country can market itself to be the Beach Games capital of the world.

In a media release, Lewis revealed that the TTOC National Beach Games is on the drawing board and believes the scenic beaches make TT perfect for these types of tournaments.

“Trinidad and Tobago’s participation at the inaugural World Beach Games is the goal. Last year the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC) approved a proposal for the first World Beach Games,” he explained.

The Beach Volleyball will be one of the marquee sports at the World Beach Games and with this country recently hosting the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Caribbean Zone Men’s Beach Volleyball Qualifier which was won by TT, Lewis is encouraged.

Lewis noted the Olympic Qualifier, hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Federation (TTVF), was “not only important for the teams contesting for qualification for the Rio Olympics, but it was an opportunity for Trinidad and Tobago to showcase its ability to host a high profile Beach Volleyball event.”

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Lance Walker, Global Performance Director, at the Michael Johnson Performance (MJP) Center, highlighted the difference between troublemakers and rebels. He urged the participants to become rebels by thinking big, being passionate and creating solutions instead of complaining. Walker was speaking during the closing session of the two-day bpTT/TTOC MJP High Performance workshop which concluded at Olympic House, 121 Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, yesterday.

 

Participants also heard words of wisdom from MJP founder and Former World and Olympic Champion Michael Johnson who said, “Teaching athletes is an important component of coaching athletes”.

 

During the afternoon period, Drew Cuffee (Regeneration and Recovery Specialist) engaged attendees in a practical session; introducing the MJP system that focuses on exercises surrounding Dynamics, Power, Movement, Force, Metabolics and Regeneration.

 

TTOC President, Brian Lewis, told the workshop that the TTOC is determined to create regular learning opportunities for High Performance coaches and trainers in Trinidad and Tobago. “Like Lance (Walker) said we need to be a network of rebels not troublemakers for there to be transformation in TTO Sport” said Lewis.

 

Lewis pointed out that a similar type of workshop would cost between $2000 - $5000 TT dollars, but the TTOC offers the workshop for free as the focus is on capacity building.

 

The workshop was well received by participants who expressed the view that it could have been longer, given the volume of information on offer.

 

“It was impressive and first world with lots of invaluable information. I will be tapping into the resources offered. Thank you, BPTT, MJP, Drew, Lance and TTOC for the opportunity” said Claire Orr, TT Cycling Federation Assistant General Secretary.

 

Those attending the High Performance Workshop which had as its theme: “Perfecting Performance – Striving for Excellence – Faster, Higher, Stronger” received a certificate of participation.

 

The TTOC expressed thanks to High Performance partners Michael Johnson Performance, Bp Trinidad and Tobago and Adidas for their continued support in making the ongoing High Performance Workshops possible.

 

The participants were:

Nicole Fuentes (TT Gymnastics Federation), Sean Morrison (TTVF), Gerard Franklin (Tobago), Mark Alexis (Tsunami Swim Club), Rheeza Grant (TTVF), Brij Parasnath (Caribbean Sport Specialists), Shurland Hartley (West Penn Athletics), Claire Orr (TTCF), Roger Frontin (TTCF), Edward Marchan (Paralympics), Josiah Morales (Eagles Aquatics), Curtis George (West Penn), Jenelle Nedd (MOS/NAAA), Ronald Rogers (UTT/TTCB), Kiron Simmons (UTT), Angel Ottley (UTT), Reynold Lovell (UTT), Shayne Cooper (NAAA), Rodney Liverpool (TTDF), Terron Abner (Marabella Family Crisis Centre), Jo-Ellen Redhead (MOS), Antonia Burton (NAAA), Gregory Seale (Movement Mechanics), Ashlee Alonso (Movement Mechanics), Courtnee-Mae Clifford (TTVF), Nataki Akii-Bua (Ventures Hockey Club), Pau Voisin (NAAA), Colin Syriac (Bike Smith Cycling Club), Jeffrey Claverie (QPCC), Mark Pouchet and Kelton Thomas (TTBBFF).

United States Olympic Committee announce its men's relay have been disqualified from the 4x100-metre race at London 2012 Olympic Games

The entire United States men’s 4 x 100 metres team have been stripped of their silver medals from the London 2012 Olympics due to Tyson Gay’s drugs ban, it was announced on Wednesday night.

Gay, a double world champion and the second fastest 100m runner of all time, served a one-year ban after testing positive for an anabolic steroid in June 2013. He had already returned his London 2012 medal when the suspension was announced last May, but the International Olympic Committee has now ordered the entire team to be stripped of their medals.

Justin Gatlin, who has also twice tested positive for drugs during his career, Trell Kimmons and Ryan Bailey will now be forced to return the silver medals they won in London, as well as Jeffery Demps and Darvis Patton, who ran in the heats.

“As expected, following Usada’s [US Anti-Doping Agency] decision in the Tyson Gay case, the IOC today confirmed that the US team has been disqualified from the 4 x 100m race,” said USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky. “We will begin efforts to have the medals returned, and support all measures to protect clean athletes.”

All of Gay’s results from July 2012 – the month before the London Games – had been annulled as a result of his ban and a USA Track and Field spokesman said the decision to strip the entire team of the medals was no surprise.

The US team set a national record time of 37.04 sec in the final, finishing behind Jamaica, who broke the world record anchored by Usain Bolt.

If the relay medals are reallocated Trinidad and Tobago would be upgraded from bronze to silver, while France would take their bronze medals.

While the IOC has varied in the past on stripping medals from relay squads, the IAAF rule in place for London 2012 stated that all relay members would lose their medals if there was a doping violation.

Gay was given a reduced ban for co-operating with Usada – a decision that Bolt last month labelled “the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard”.

He said: “I was really upset about that. He got a year just because he talked to the authorities about how it was done and who helped him. That sends the wrong message: ‘If you do it and get caught, just tell us all you know and we’ll lower your ban.’ It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. The message should be: ‘If you cheat you’re going to be kicked out of the sport.’

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T&T men’s sprint relay team, which won bronze in the 2012 London Olympics, may be upgraded again after the entire US relay team was stripped of its silver medal yesterday as a result of Tyson Gay’s doping case, two officials with knowledge of the decision as reported by the Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been announced.

The International Olympic Committee notified the US Olympic Committee by letter that the 4x100 relay team has been disqualified and all the medals withdrawn, the officials said. The letter asks the USOC to collect the medals and return them to the IOC.

Gay returned his own medal last year after accepting a one-year doping suspension and the loss of results going back to July 2012, but the status of the US second-place finish in London and the medals of Gay’s relay teammates had remained in limbo until now.

President of T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) Brian Lewis yesterday said that he has received no official confirmation on the development.

“I haven’t seen a report from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but we are looking forward to the official confirmation. We have to wait on the IOC to do additional deliberation, to confirm whether or not the silver medal will be reallocated,” said Lewis.

Under international rules, an entire team can be disqualified and stripped of medals because of doping by one member.

Gay was a member of the American team that finished second in London behind a Jamaican team anchored by Usain Bolt. The Americans set a national record in the final with a time of 37.04 seconds.

The other US team members losing medals are Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Ryan Bailey, Jeffery Demps and Darvis Patton. Kimmons, Gatlin and Bailey ran in the final with Gay.

It will be a second upgrade for local quartet of Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender and Richard Thompson, who some three years ago moved from fourth to third after the Canadian team of Justyn Warner, Gavin Smellie, Oluseyi Smith and Jared Connaughton, running the third leg and on the final turn, had taken one step on the lane line, earning the team an automatic disqualification.

Lewis was adamant about the TTOC joining with the global anti-doping community, with a clear focus on protecting the clean athlete.

“TTOC has been rigourous in protecting the rights of the clean athlete and this development only highlights the need to do so.”

Gatlin, who is in Qatar for the opening Diamond League meet of the season tomorrow, told AP that he was not aware of the decision and had no comment. Gatlin, who won the 100-meter gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games, served a four-year doping ban from 2006.

Gay tested positive for steroids at the US championships in 2013. He received a reduced suspension—rather than a two-year ban— because he cooperated with the US Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation that led to an eight-year ban for his former coach, Jon Drummond.

Gay’s results were annulled going back to July 15, 2012, the date when he first used a product containing a banned substance.

If the London medals are reallocated, the silver will go to T&T, who finished third in 38.12 seconds. The bronze would go to the French team which placed fourth in 38.16 seconds.

“Our athletes were denied the opportunity or moreso the glory to stand on the podium and receive the silver medal. This latest development strengthens the unwavering effort of the TTOC in protecting the rights of the clean athlete,” said Lewis.

The rules of track and field’s world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, mandated that the entire US team be disqualified, but the final decision was up to the IOC.

Drummond was the coach of the US relay team in London and placed Gay on the team. According to the USADA decision in Drummond’s case, the athlete took a banned substance in July 2012 with the coach’s knowledge.

The IOC has previously stripped US relay teams of medals retroactively for doping, including three teams from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The US was stripped of gold in the women’s 4x400 and bronze in the 4x100 following Marion Jones’ admission of doping. Jones returned her medals, but her teammates appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to keep theirs and won their case in 2010. The court said IAAF rules at the time did not allow entire teams to be disqualified because of doping by one athlete.

The IOC also stripped the US men’s 4x400 relay of their Sydney gold after a doping admission by Antonio Pettigrew.

In 2012, American runner Crystal Cox was stripped of her gold medal from the 4x400 relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics after admitting to doping. The IOC did not disqualify the rest of the team because it was unclear which rules were in effect at the time.

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AMIDST MULTIPLE reports across world media yesterday which indicated that the United States’ men’s 4x100m relay team was stripped of their London 2012 Olympic silver medals as a consequence of Tyson Gay’s drug ban in May 2014, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC), Brian Lewis, revealed that the local governing body has not yet received any official confirmation of these recent happenings from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Just after noon yesterday, several internationally accredited media corporations ran with similar stories depicting that the, “IOC wrote to the US Olympic Committee on Wednesday, telling them to collect the medals from Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Ryan Bailey, Jeffery Demps and Darvis Patton”. The aforementioned are the remaining members of the US 4x100m team who have now been told to follow in the footsteps of Gay, and return their medals. Gay’s Olympic medal was returned to the IOC when his ban was announced in May 2014.

At the London Summer Games relay final, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter and Yohan Blake (36.84 seconds) blasted to victory ahead of eventual runners-up USA’s Gatlin, Gay, Bailey and Kimmons (37.04) while TT quartet of Marc Burns, Keston Bledman, Emmanuel Callendar and Richard Thompson settled for bronze in 38.12.

If these rumours of the US being stripped of their medals are indeed true, the local team will automatically propel into second position and be awarded with Olympic silver, while France bumps up from fourth into third position. However, speaking to Lewis yesterday, he admitted to being aware of the circulating news but opted to veer away from public speculation and await the official correspondence from the IOC.

“We, the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, have not received any correspondence or notification from the IOC,” the TTOC boss affirmed. “I sent an email earlier (yesterday) to the IOC, asking for some clarification on this particular matter. I’m hoping to receive a response by (this) morning because they (IOC) are a couple hours ahead of us.”

Lewis also noted that by following protocol, the IOC at this point in time would expect the TTOC to adapt in the absence of official communication, a reasonable and appropriate position.

“I would rather not comment or speculate further but what this continues to highlight is the importance of us taking the necessary steps as an Olympic movement, sporting world and TTOC, to protect the rights of clean athletes. We have to rigorous and relentless in protecting the rights of the clean athletes,” added Lewis.

Reiterating the importance and stern stance taken by the TTOC against doping in sport, the local Olympic fraternity joined forces with the Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Federation and Ministry of Sport over the weekend to inaugurally serve as this nation’s official National Anti- Doping Organisation (NADO) for the Caribbean Zone Men’s Olympic Beach Volleyball qualifiers.

“We were insistent that we had to have in-competition testing because we must always be in compliance with the world anti-doping act and have to tangibly display that we are determined in the jurisdiction of Trinidad and Tobago to protect the rights of clean athletes. I look forward to receiving some official correspondence from the IOC. This is a matter that has been ongoing for quite some time since it was announced that Tyson Gay had those analytical findings. The TTOC is just as anxious as everyone else to have closure in this particular matter,” Lewis concluded.

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