LONDON – Cammie Burke, Barbados’ chef de mission to the London 2012 Olympic Games, has been cautiously optimistic about the chances of the six-member team as the final athletes make their way into the Olympic Village ahead of tonight’s Opening Ceremony.
In an interview with WEEKEND?SPORT yesterday at the Main Press Centre, Burke said he had been receiving reports from the various officials. Yesterday morning, he was able to sit down with swimmer Bradley Ally’s coach Josh White for the first time.
“He is very upbeat about Bradley’s chances. He has reported that Bradley has been training exceptionally well. His chances look reasonably good.
“He expects him to go as far as the semi-finals and dependent on the draw, he can make it to the finals in his pet event the 200IM [individual medley],” Burke said.
Ally will also be competing in the 400 IM and the 100M backstroke.
Again, most of the medal hopes appear to rest with former 110-metre hurdles world champion Ryan Brathwaite.
Burke said all reports from that camp indicated Brathwaite had been progressing well, while coach Alwyn Babb had been working with the other hurdlers Shane Brathwaite and Greggmar Swift on a daily basis.
“We have not heard much from Ramon [Gittens] but from snippets he is looking pretty good for at least a semi-final berth.”
It will be a much tougher task for judoka Kyle Maxwell, who has drawn Japan’s world champion Riki Nakaya in his first fight.
Ryan Brathwaite arrived yesterday afternoon, while Gittens is expected around 7 a.m. today (2 a.m. Barbados time).
Team Barbados had been expected to train in Crawley, but with most athletes opting to remain with their coaches, those who were here went straight to the Olympic Park.
Maxwell has been in England for at least a month, training at Bath University.
Burke said while the camp didn’t go as expected, the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) was looking at a more long-term relationship with Crawley.
“Our relationship with Crawley was not only for the Olympics. We would have looked at a more long-term camp with Crawley.
“So initially, it would have started from two years ago when we sent the hockey team and the netball team going into the Commonwealth Games and then we sent Anderson Emmanuel, the boxer, to prepare for the Olympic qualifiers,” the BOA director explained.
“The last one going in was Kyle Maxwell, who specifically went to prepare, to fine-tune for the Olympics.
“Crawley didn’t have the facilities that were necessary for Kyle to prepare and they made arrangements with Bath University, so Kyle was based in Bath and from there he came into the village.
“But that relationship with Crawley is going to extend even as we go further into the next Commonwealth Games in 2014,” Burke stressed.
He said that unlike Team Jamaica, who have met with huge outpourings of support in Birmingham and now in London, the Barbadian Olympians have had a more low-key response from the Barbadian community.
When the Barbados Flag was raised in the Village, Barbados’ High Commissioner to London Hugh Arthur and assistant Donville Johnson were present.
A major function is also being planned to coincide with the arrival of Minister of Sports Stephen Lashley, who will not be leaving Barbados until the Crop Over Festival has been completed.
Burke said more people had been identifying themselves as Bajans and wishing the team well since they had placed the Broken Trident on the vehicles.
The athletes have been receiving some parental support. Eugene Brathwaite, Ryan’s father, spent the day at the village waiting to greet his son; Lionel and Roseanne Maxwell will be coming to visit Kyle later; Bradley is scheduled to see his parents Raymond and Marlyn today, while Margaret Eastmond, who bought her ticket months before her son Greggmar Swift qualified, will also be in London.
Burke said all of the officials and five of the athletes would be marching in the Opening Ceremony. Ally requested and was granted an exemption, as he will be first up around 10 a.m. (5 a.m. Barbados time) tomorrow in the 400IM.
