Barbados has formulated a five-year programme aimed at earning the island another Olympics medal by 2024, and along the way picking up dozens of similar awards at other lesser competitions including regional and age-limit games.
On that journey towards the country’s second Olympics medal, the possibility of at least one Bajan athlete scoring an upset placement among the top three at the Tokyo Olympics next year has not been ruled out.
The Barbados Olympic Association (BOA), the island’s governing body for athletics, said Tuesday it expects to earn three medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2021. In year 2022 it looks to one medal at the Youth Olympic Games; 20 at the Central American and Caribbean Games; and four at the Commonwealth Games.
Then for 2023 the BOA expects four medals at the Pan Am Games based on the programme being rolled out.
“We think that given where we are now that this is an ambitious target. But who knows? We may be able to meet it and even surpass it and as I said there is no magic to these numbers,” said BOA president Sandra Osborne.
“We sat down, brainstormed and we said based on what we know about what has happened in games before, these are the types of numbers that would be realistic for Barbados.”
The man tipped to spring a surprise and lead the way in surpassing the training and fitness targets is Shane Brathwaite who ratcheted up a gold at this year’s Pan Am games.
Though he managed only sixth place in the World Championships in Doha, Qatar last month, Brathwaite has been showing the type of world class form that on the right day could see him placing among the top three in Japan.
Obadele Thompson accounted for Barbados’ lone Olympics medal by placing third in the 100 metres sprint in 2000 in Australia.
