Ryan Brathwaite??
Barbadians are being encouraged to show gold medal hurdler, Ryan Brathwaite, how proud they are of his accomplishments by supporting the activities planned for his homecoming.
Government and the 13:14 Gold Committee, the organisers of the events, will be ???pulling out all the stops’ to ensure that this outstanding son of the soil is celebrated by his own.????
Ryan’s Virgin Atlantic Flight will touch down at the Grantley Adams International Airport at approximately 1:45 p.m., where he will be met on the tarmac by the Acting Minister of Youth, Family and Sports, Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner, his parents and officials from the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA).
They will move to the Grace Adams Suite, where there will be a short reception, with statements by the Minister and officials of the NSC, AAA and the Barbados Olympic Association.
At 2:45 p.m., the World Champion will leave the airport in a motorcade, which will travel on Highway 7, through Oistins, Maxwell, Rendezvous, Bay Street, Bridgetown, Hincks Street, and on to Harbour Road, culminating at Kensington Oval. Barbadians who work or live in those areas have been urged to line the route and cheer on Ryan as the vehicles pass.
Students of Lawrence T. Gay Primary and the Lester Vaughan Schools, which Brathwaite attended, will line the lane at Kensington Oval for his arrival. He will be met by Prime Minister David Thompson and the Cabinet of Barbados, prior to a 4:45 p.m. ceremony.
Prime Minister Thompson will deliver the feature address during the ceremony, while the Acting Minister of Sports, Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner, and representatives of several sporting organisations will give messages. During the evening, there will be several musical tributes, and some private sector companies will make presentations to the outstanding athlete and his coaches, Alwyn Babb, and Matthew Kane.