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| Minister of Sports, Stephen Lashley (left) and Ambassador Ryan Brathwaite on tour of the National Stadium. (C. Pitt/BGIS) |
The proposed Ryan Brathwaite Invitational Meet has received the thumbs up from this island’s Minister of Sports, Stephen Lashley, who is of the opinion that it will further expose local athletes to international competition.
Mr. Lashley expressed this view recently while giving the media an update on the work on the track at the National Stadium.
He further stated that given Ambassador Brathwaite’s close contact with international athletes, "the sports meet is also an excellent opportunity to have many of those competitors come to Barbados and compete with our local athletes".
Minister Lashley said that even though Barbados did not receive a medal at this year’s Olympic Games in London, local athletes remained committed to their various disciplines.
"The fact that Barbados did not bring back a medal does not in any way detract from the kind of dedication and the kind of serious pursuit which I saw displayed by our team in London. This is an indication of where Team Barbados can go. There will be some new initiatives that we have to put in place to ensure that we can prepare ourselves for the Rio Games in Brazil in 2016. I am confident that Ryan and the other athletes are extremely focused on doing good things for Barbados," he surmised.
A coordinating committee is currently being set up to plan the Ryan Brathwaite Invitational Meet, which Minister Lashley said would be part of the national preparation for Rio.