BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - HEAD of the St. Kitts Bar Association and prominent social commentator Charles Wilkin QC, has called for a mending of differences between sprint star Kim Collins and athletics officials in St. Kitts and Nevis, and is urging nationals to insist that the matter is resolved.
Collins has not represented St. Kitts and Nevis at a major international competition since the London debacle between himself and SKN officials, and had vowed never to represent the Federation again.
However, the 39-year-old had recently expressed his willingness to represent the Federation at the 2016 Olympic Games set for Rio De Janeiro.
In a commentary aired on WINN FM, Wilkin called on the parties involved to reconcile their differences.
“I sincerely hope that the renaming of the Stadium will be but the first step towards the return of Kim to the national team where he belongs. The unapologetic purpose of this commentary is to call on the leaders of the National Olympic Committee and the Athletics Federation and on Kim to reconcile the differences, which have put Kim in our country's wilderness for too long.
“I also ask the people of the country to join me in that quest by making your voices heard.”
The Bar Association President indicated that he and others were trying broker reconciliation.
“I am only too aware of how deeply feelings run. I believe however that this impasse has gone on too long and it is the national interest for both sides to bury the egos and the proverbial hatchet. It is time that the people of St. Kitts and Nevis insist on that happening.”
Wilkin accused Collins of being a “prima donna”; a result of the focus and hard work of the sprint icon.
“They sometimes get carried away by the adulation they receive. But those who have punished Kim for that attitude also know how hard he has worked to gain his success.
“We see the races which last 10 seconds but we do not see the weeks and months of hard and lonely training, the discipline of diet and rest, the physical and mental pain of injuries, the long flights, the lonely and endless hours in airports, the changes in time zones, the move from hotel to hotel and from bed to bed which Kim has endured so remarkably well for two decades.”
He added that the Federation could not allow its major international asset to remain out of the national team and should be encouraged and rewarded financially to return home.
“Kim must be allowed to lead the country's athletes to the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, to bid farewell to the world of athletics in style and to receive the accolades which the world would like to shower on him.”
Wilkin also agreed with the renaming of the Silver Jubilee Stadium in honour of Kim Collins.
