THE VERDICT is still out on Barry Forde.
His medals have dried up and the funding might follow suit, as Barbados’ premier cyclist could be facing the axe from the Barbados Olympic Association’s (BOA) elite programme when the Olympic body sits down to review its financial initiative.
Word of this comes from BOA president Steve Stoute just days after Barbados returned medal-less from the just concluded Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.
“We have to review the programme as it relates to who should qualify under it,” said Stoute in an exclusive telephone interview with NATIONSPORT.
Still a prospect
“Some members of the board still view Barry as a medal prospect for 2012 [Olympics] and some members don’t. He received funding for these Commonwealth Games but the BOA will have to review that for the future.”
According to Stoute, under the elite initiative, Forde has been afforded funding for coaching and training as well as living expenses as one of Barbados’ premier athletes.
But while his peers, Ryan Brathwaite and Bradley Ally have excelled, Forde has struggled at the last two international meets, failing to finish atop the podium at both the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) and Commonwealth Games.
In Delhi, the 34-year-old couldn’t get out of the opening round of the keirin – his pet event – before getting bounced from the repechage as well.
And this was after Forde came fourth in the keirin at July’s CAC Games while failing to advance to the medal rounds of the match sprint at that same meet in Puerto Rico.
Medal-less
The unflattering form has now left him without a medal of any sorts since copping a silver medal in the keirin at the Pan American Cycling Championships back in April.
“It hasn’t been discussed fully,” said BOA operations manager Glyne Clarke of the direction the Olympic body is going with Forde.
“What we certainly have to do is put more emphasis on Darren Matthews, who seemed to have good performances every day [in Delhi] as a young rider. The future of cycling is definitely with him but Barry still has a part to play at some point.”
Clarke, who served as Barbados’ assistant chef de mission to Delhi, also noted that the BOA would be assessing the country’s performance at both the CAC and Commonwealth Games to determine the size of future contingents.
Barbados landed just ten medals at the CAC Games, nine adrift of the record haul four years ago, leading the BOA to reduce the squad heading to India.
But without the likes of Brathwaite and Ally, the Ultramarine And Gold finished medal-less, as Matthews and the seventh-placed netball team provided the lone sources of optimism.
“With this team we weren’t quite looking for medals [because] we didn’t have the athletes that would’ve medalled,” said Clarke, who reasoned Forde was the team’s lone medal hope.
“We have to do a post-mortem on both the CAC and Commonwealth Games in consultation with the various federations within the next month and look at how we go forward for big games.”
