TWO-TIME OLYMPIAN Freida Nicholls is heading to the Rio Olympics for a busy schedule at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in her new role as representative of the 40 countries of the Americas on the executive committee of the World Olympians Association (WOA).
She was elected to that post at the WOA general assembly held in Moscow last October. Nicholls will be attending the WOA annual board meeting from August 8 to 9, where several issues relating to its 100 000 Olympians membership will be considered, including the WOA strategy, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Agenda 2020, and reports from several working groups including code of ethics working group, service to society working group, medical committee working group and the IOC Athletes Commission working group.
“I am embarking on an exciting and rewarding continuation of my Olympic journey which started back in 1972 when I qualified for the Munich Games. It is a distinct honour to be representing Barbados at the highest level of sport on the executive committee of the World Olympians Association.
“In the year of our 50th anniversary celebrations, I feel doubly proud to be flying the Barbados flag once again on the international stage, this time in a new role,” she said.
Nicholls will also serve as a group leader for Olympians who will be attending sessions of athletics and basketball and be involved in the Olympian chaperone programme where WOA sponsors have selected Olympians to accompany their clients to Games sessions, speak to various client groups about their Olympic experiences, and provide commentary about their sport.
One of the fastest women on the track in Barbados in the 1970s, Nicholls was good enough to make national team for the Olympics Games in Munich in 1972 and Montreal in 1976.
When she stepped on to the track at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich for the 100 metres, she became the first Barbadian female to compete at the Olympics.
The other females in the squad were Marcia Trotman (200m, 4×400 relay), Barbara Bishop (400m, 4×400 relay), Lorna Forde (4×400 relay), Heather Gooding (800m, 4×400 relay and the youngest participant at age 14).
At the Montreal Games in 1976, she reached the quarter-finals in the 200 metres.
She served as manager of the Barbados Athletics teams for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the Atlanta Games in 1996.
She was then selected by the World Olympians Association to join the management team at the Olympians Reunion Centre at the Games in Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, and London 2012. (PR)
