It was a day of mixed results last Thursday for the Trinidad and Tobago Special Olympics Team, currently in Los Angeles, California, USA, for the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

In Equestrian English Equitation Competition, athlete Joanne Piango scored 53 points to bring home a gold medal while Aaron Ben Ali won a bronze medal with 48 points.

In athletics, T&T's athletes competed in the finals of the men's 200m and 400m. In the 200m, Donald Doyle clocked 25.63 seconds to attain an 8th Place Ribbon. Yetendra Singh one minute, 8.26 seconds, and Ishmael Perpignac in 1:10.29, both won 7th Place Ribbons in their 400m races, respectively.

There were mixed emotions for Rickey Quow in his 200m race. Rickey, who is the brother of T&T international Renee Quow, came to the Games with a pair of running shoes donated by his elder brother and a promise to follow in the illustrious footsteps of his sibling.

For a brief moment it appeared that he had fulfilled that dream when he ran 25.22 to just be beaten across the finish line by Gharawy Faris from Saudi Arabia in 25.19.

It was subsequently learnt though, that Rickey had been disqualified for a “Lane Infringement” or crossing lanes. Rickey will have to await the 100m and 4 x 100m relay.

Female Bocce player Beverly Adams finished with a 6th Place Ribbon while, Renee Massiah, Alicia Khan, will be in action in Singles Competition on Thursday.

Thursday's Events

Basketball: T&T v Japan

Volleyball: T&T will face Russia then Croatia

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Michelle-Lee Ahye was the best of the Trinidad and Tobago athletes on show at the American Track League meet, in Atlanta, United States, on Saturday night. Ahye picked up silver in the women’s 100 metres dash in 11.29 seconds. Jamaica’s 2007 world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown clocked 11.22 to claim gold. Bronze, meanwhile, went to another Jamaican, Simone Facey (11.30). The other T&T sprinter in the race, Kai Selvon got to the line in 11.70 seconds to finish seventh.

Ahye and Selvon are coming back from injury, and used Saturday’s meet to prove their fitness ahead of the August 22-30 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.

Semoy Hackett secured bronze in the American Track League women’s 200m, the T&T athlete getting home in 23.37 seconds. Campbell-Brown was also the winner in the half-lap event, the two-time Olympic 200m champion stopping the clock at 22.82 for a comfortable cushion on second-placed Charonda Williams (23.25) of the United States.

Like Ahye and Selvon, Deon Lendore ran a comeback race at the American Track League meet. The T&T quartermiler was sixth in the men’s 400m, completing his lap of the track in 45.94 seconds. Nineteen-year-old Bahamian Steven Gardiner triumphed in 45.11, forcing decathlete Ashton Eaton to settle for the runner-up spot in 45.55. Eaton’s fellow-American, Kyle Clemons clocked 45.76 to finish third.

In a Twitter post, on Saturday night, Lendore said: “I’m thankful I’m not hurt no more but I’m disappointed I didn’t trust myself in this race. Brighter days ahead.”

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The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro begin 5th August 2016.

Wednesday 5th August will mark the 365 days to go countdown.

IOC President Thomas Bach will head  to Rio de Janeiro for the one year to go celebration.

The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee will join with the rest of the global Olympic Movement in acknowledging the important one year to go mile post along the 2016 Olympic journey.

The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) is set to receive at least TTD$750,000 (£76,000/$118,000/€107,000) into its #10golds24 athlete welfare and preparation fund from Toyota Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TTTL) over the next five years.

The deal, due to run until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, was announced by TTOC President Brian Lewis and TTTL marketing manager Sean Shaffie at Olympic House as Toyota presented the first cheque of TTD$150,000 (£15,000/$24,000/€21,000) to the fund.

In March, Toyota joined The Olympic Partner (TOP) Programme in the newly-created mobility category, which will see the Japanese car manufacturer work with the organisers of future Olympic Games to provide safe, efficient and sustainable mobility solutions.

Rio 2016 counts another Japanese carmaker Nissan among its roster of official sponsors, meaning Toyota will not join the TOP Programme in 2017, but will have marketing rights in Japan with immediate effect.

Lewis claimed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) usually returns 90 per cent of the revenue generated back to sport development and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) across the globe.

"What would usually happen is even though you may have a worldwide partner, it doesn’t necessarily mean in the domestic market there is a sign-on market," he said.

"It usually happens in bigger NOCs, not usually in smaller NOCs, so Toyota T&T signing on to be a partner complements, so to speak, what is happening on worldwide basis but is a landmark deal for the TTOC and we would like to congratulate and welcome them on board."

Shaffie insisted TTTL was forward-thinking and therefore decided to offer Olympic support 12 months ahead of its parent company.

"We will be supporting our local Olympic contingent via the TTOC in readiness for the Olympic Games in 2020, not only because our parent company is an official Olympic sponsor, but it is part of our burning desire to coordinate and contribute to Olympic success for our very own athletes," he said.

Toyota has also agreed to provide internships for athletes in human resources, public relations, communications and sales.

Ongoing training and education will also be offered by Toyota, which will be the official vehicle and mobility partner of the TTOC.

"To be fair to our other corporate sponsors, there is an ongoing emphasis in all our negotiations now in terms of actioning our athlete-centred approach from a strategic perspective," said Lewis.

"That component is very important and I acknowledge Toyota for agreeing to that."

Lewis stressed the importance of making sure that Trinidad and Tobago's Federations improve their brand to attract commercial investment.

"It is also about the ability of the brand you are associating with to drive sales," he added.

"I am saying this because we hear a lot about why corporate T&T is not coming on board.

"Maybe it is because the brand needs to be looked at, maybe we are unable to convince corporate T&T that we can help create a win-win, not only help them meet their corporate social responsibility ambitions but to drive sales."

Trinidad and Tobago won a total of eight medals at the recent Pam American Games in Toronto, including three golds in athletics.

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(ATR) Toyota gave a check for $150,000 to the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) on Wednesday, the first check in a pledge of at least $750,000 worth of donations to be offered in the next five years.

The award will go into the TTOC’s #10golds24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund. The funds were supplied by the Trinidad and Tobago branch of Toyota.

On top of monetary awards, the local Toyota branch will also offer internships to qualifying athletes. Internships in the areas of human resources, public relations, communications and sales will be made available. The company will offer ongoing training and education to the athletes.

Toyota will also be the official vehicle for the TTOC throughout the five year contract and could assist the NOC with promotional and advertising initiatives.

Earlier this year in March, the Toyota parent company signed a record $835 million deal with the IOC to be a top sponsor of the organization through the 2024 Olympics. They will have exclusive worldwide rights with the IOC beginning in 2017.

President of TTOC Brian Lewis says it is a bit surprising for a small NOC such as Trinidad and Tobago to receive such a deal from a worldwide Olympic sponsor.

“It usually happens in bigger NOCs, not usually in smaller NOCs, so Toyota T&T signing on to be a partner complements, so to speak, what is happening on worldwide basis but is a landmark deal for the TTOC and we would like to congratulate and welcome them on board,” he said.

Marketing manager for the local Toyota branch Sean Shaffie says they are forward thinking when it comes to Olympic sponsorship.

“Starting today, we will be supporting our local Olympic contingent via the TTOC in readiness for the Olympic Games in 2020, not only because our parent company is an official Olympic sponsor but it is part of our burning desire to coordinate and contribute to Olympic success for our very own athletes,” Shaffie said.

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COACH OF the Women’s Premier League champion team Boom Champions Fuego, Richard Hood, praised the squad for their successful campaign in the inaugural 2015 event.

The Fuego team drew 2-2 with CNGC Rush on Thursday night at the Police Barracks in St James, but the result was enough to see them lift the title, by virtue of a superior goal difference over runners-up Chancellor Angels.

“It feels great,” said Hood, moments after the hard-fought contest. “I think it’s a tremendous achievement for this team. I don’t think we were, by any means, the most talented team in the tournament but the girls worked really hard throughout.

“They did everything that I asked them to do, at least they tried to do it and I think particularly given as we had to play (on Wednesday) night and come back 24 hours and play again, a great achievement,” he added.

As far as the season was concerned, Hood commented, “for the Fuego team, it was a great season, it was a great tournament. Our girls were not the most technical players but they worked hard. When you have a team that everybody is working hard for each other, you can’t ask for more than that.”

In early July, the WPL went on a three-week break due to the absence of a number of national players, who were involved on international duty at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, Canada.

Asked how he kept the team focused during the lengthy inactive period, Hood responded, “we trained. We tried to improve their fitness levels because, at the beginning of the tournament, their level was very low, particularly the local girls. So we tried to improve their fitness levels and we tried to improve the tactical aspects of their game.”

He continued, “we did some things off the field to keep them away from the boredom. We played a couple of practice games and I think those were very useful.”

The WPL, the brainchild of Sports Minister Brent Sancho, was a hastily arranged competition, which Sancho mentioned was set up to keep the national players active, as well as provide top level competition for the local bunch.

Hood lauded the organisers for staging the games - free of charge - at a number of community grounds, including the Police Barracks, Sangre Grande Recreation Ground, Orange Grove Recreation Ground in Tacarigua, Maracas Recreation Ground in St Joseph, as well as the Palo Seco Recreation Ground.

“One of the things I like about this tournament is the idea of bringing it to a venue like this,” said the Fuego coach. “I think this was a great idea.”

However, if the WPL is to continue in 2016 and beyond, Hood admitted, “what I would love to see improved is the administrative part. The tournament could be well-planned in advance (and) teams would have an opportunity to prepare well.

“So a coach could always know that he is going into a game against whom ever, on a given day, and prepare accordingly,” he ended.

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