JOEL JULIEN
“She may not have won a medal but she has won the respect of all her peers and should win the respect of all the citizens in this country.”
This was the statement made by Kelvin Nancoo, the former coach of sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye, following her sixth place finish in the women’s 200 metres final at the Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro last night.
Ahye also placed sixth in the women’s 100 metres final on Saturday.
Contacted moments after viewing last night’s race, Nancoo said placing sixth in both events was something to be lauded. He anticipates that Ahye will medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
The T&T Guardian also contacted Ahye’s mother Racquel, who said she was extremely proud of her daughter’s performances in Brazil.
“Her performance was out of this world. I am a very proud and happy mother of my daughter’s performance. She really put up a fight for Trinidad and Tobago,” Ahye (R) said after watching the race on television.
Asked what is the first thing she will tell her daughter when they next communicate, Ahye (R) laughed and said: “I want her shoes!” She added: “She was determined to go there and bring back a medal and she ended up setting a new national record in Brazil so that made me extra proud.”
Ahye ran 22.25 seconds in the 200 metres semifinals to break the previous national record of 22.33, which she set at the National Championships in June.
Her mother last night thanked the public for their continued support of her daughter. “I thank the Almighty that He gave her that strength to perform without injuries. She tried her best and she showed us she can do it,” she said.
Nancoo said Ahye’s performances at Rio were commendable.
“Michelle has not prepared in the way of a real 200 metre athlete, but we can say she has run the best for a Trinidad and Tobago woman ever and what is instrumental is that once Michelle gets hunger, which I know in two years will happen, Michelle will be one of the greatest sprinters in the history of Trinidad and Tobago,” Nancoo said.
“I know in the next Olympics she will medal gold or silver, I have no doubt about that. In four years’ time she will be a force to be reckoned with and then four years later she will have an excellent chance again, her time is near but it just was not now.”
Nancoo said, however, that she has some work over the next four years.
“I think she needs to strengthen up more, her leg speed is great, her turnover is excellent but just that strength is missing and that is all that is missing. I think she will do wonderfully well in Tokyo and beyond. We should be proud to have an athlete like Michelle.
“Sixth place is the sixth best woman in he world and she did it at 100 (metres) and 200 (metres), that is a plus for Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.