BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AT a post-Daegu press conference held today, Sep. 14, Head Coach of Team St. Kitts-Nevis, Lonzo Wilkinson said that it was a privilege to be the coach of a winning team.
Wilkinson said that the athletes went out and did a good job and made mention of the individual coaches that have helped the athletes along the way.
The St. Kitts-Nevis Men 4X100 Relay team gave a sterling performance at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea where they came third in the finals.
The head coach remarked that preparations were rocky at first and when he looked at his team for the relay he told the President of the St. Kitts-Nevis Amateur Athletics Association that they needed Kim Collins for the team as he was the Federation’s fastest athlete.
“So we spoke to Collins about coming out of retirement and he agreed to it,” Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson said that while in Daegu, the team worked well together and that he saw that they would make the finals.
He said on the day of the relay, the athletes read a scripture from Psalms and said that Collins had mentioned that lane one was a good lane as he did well in that lane in 2003 by winning gold.
“Kim had also told the guys that it’s not who you are running against but what you do,” he said.
Manager of the team, Iston Williams said that it was a major expense for the team to reach to Daegu as they participated in various meets in London and Amsterdam so the guys could get a feel of an international arena.
Williams also thanked the SKNAAA, the National Olympic Committee (NOC), parents and all those that made it possible for them to participate in the event.
Glen Jeffers (President of the SKNAAA), and three members of the Relay team, Jason Rogers, Delwayne Delaney and Antoine Adams were also present at the press conference.
Jeffers said that the association undertook rigorous programming, preparing the athletes for various events.
He said that the next event they will be participating is will be the Pan AM Games in Mexico.
The president said that the federation has never won a medal there and that Collins who will also be a part of the games is hoping to win a Pan Am medal.
The question was asked how the delegate celebrated after placing in the relay.
The athletes said they were all overwhelmed and headed back to the room where they celebrated with wine, and took photographs and spoke about the race.
Rogers said that they ran around the apartment in excitement while logging on to social websites where they were greeted with congratulatory messages.
Wilkinson said that words could not describe the joy he felt at the moment and said that the support from the people in the federation was tremendous.
President Jeffers said that he was also present in Daegu and after the relay team placed third he was near tears and literally on the floor.
He said while there and during interviews he said that “something” was going to happen in the relay finals.
Jeffers also said that their sponsor Adidas was also very happy with their performance in Daegu and mentioned that due to SKNAAA, NOC and IAAF has lent financial support to the team.
He said that the IAAF gave travel grants to the athletes only while the coach and manager and other officials traveling with the team were given financial support from NOC and SKNAAA.
A total of 8-10 athletes are expected to be a part of the Pan Am Games in October.
