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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2018 17:14:48 GMT
Crawford: Mum was my driving forceguyanachronicle.com/2016/07/26/mom-was-driving-force-behind-success-hasely-crawfordNINETEEN-seventy-six Olympic 100-metre champion Hasely Crawford celebrated, on Saturday night, the 40th anniversary of his historic win in Montreal.Back then, Crawford snared Trinidad and Tobago’s first-ever OIympic gold medal, winning the blue riband event in 10.06s over Jamaica’s Donald Quarrie. Last Saturday, family, friends and well-wishers, including West Indies great Brian Lara, gathered at Joseph’s Restaurant in Maraval for the occasion staged by the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago. The OIympic gold medalist said his mother, Phyllis, was the driving force that pushed him to succeed. “I could remember every night she would wash that one blue shirt and that khaki pants. And then in the morning time she would iron it and that blue shirt will start to turn white,” he recalled of his humble beginnings. “I said I must do something for this lady. My father died at an early age.” The desire to see his mother live a better life, he said, pushed him towards the pinnacle of world sprinting. “Things were really rough and I said someday I must do something so she could really attain a better life. That is one of the reasons why I won the gold medal,” he said. He also hailed his coaches and support team that helped him achieve his goal. Several personalities paid tribute to Crawford on the night, including Lara, who said the great excitement for him was when Crawford returned to the twin-island republic a hero. “That (winning gold) was an amazing experience for me, but what was even more amazing and more of a personal touch for me is when my parents and my 10 siblings jumped into my father’s car and we headed to airport. We got upstairs and we got a pretty good position and I held on as a seven-year-old to the railing, my two legs hanging over and Hasely arrived.” Guests at the 40th anniversary celebrations included former Miss Universe Janelle Penny Commissiong, legendary masman Peter Minshall, former national cyclist Ian Atherly, as well as Chief Justice Ivor Archie and former chairman of the West Indies Cricket Board Ken Gordon. Others who paid tribute to the iconic Olympian included NAAA president Ephraim Serrette, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon and Basil Ince, manager of the TT 1976 Olympic team. Hasley Crawford edges Donald Quarrie for Gold in the 1976 Olympic Final (Montreal)
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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2018 17:23:47 GMT
1976 100 Metre Olympic Final.
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Post by Admin on Aug 7, 2018 17:26:56 GMT
the Fastest men on Earth.
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Post by Admin on Aug 13, 2018 23:15:42 GMT
Crawford and Dr. Williams.
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Post by Admin on Aug 13, 2018 23:32:57 GMT
Hasely Crawford Exhibition - a National Hero.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2018 17:32:46 GMT
HASELY HURTING
1976 Olympic champ slams Ato, football flood relief organisers
■ Kwame Laurence
kwame.laurence@trinidadexpress.com
TRINIDAD and Tobago's first Olympic champion, Hasely Crawford has slammed another former athlete, Ato Boldon for his criticism of the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA).
'I want nothing to do with Ato until he changes his ways,' an upset Crawford told the Express.
'I respect him. What he is doing at (American television network) NBC, I am happy for him. But when he comes here, people listen to him as though he's the Bible. So, don't come here and criticise, not knowing what is happening. You're hurting us.'
Crawford, who captured 100 metres gold for T& T at the 1976 Olympic Games, is a former NAAA trustee. He no longer serves on the executive, but remains active in the sport, seeking sponsorship for NAAA initiatives.
Florida-based Boldon, a four-time Olympic medallist and former 200 metres world champion, works as a track and field analyst with NBC. He has a reputation for being outspoken, and has consistently criticised the NAAA for its administration of the sport here in T& T.
Recently, Boldon pointed to T& T's Carifta Games and IAAF World U20 Championship performances as examples of decline.
'When I go out there and beg for help for the sport, you're hurting me,' said Crawford, in reference to Boldon's criticisms. 'When the CEO says 'look what Ato's saying', I can say nothing. I just have to shut my mouth and go again. So, he's really hurting track and field.
'If he thinks he knows about administration,' the former Olympic champion continued, 'and he could develop track and field to win 25 gold medals, I have no quarrel with that. Put up yourself and be president. Don't just stay up there. Make yourself available. If he feels he has a plan and could develop track and field, I will vote for him.'
Crawford pointed to the NGC/NAAA Youth Elite Programme as an example of a positive initiative from the NAAA and its president Ephraim Serrette. At last year's launch, some of the country's best young athletes, including four-time Carifta Games javelin champion Tyriq Horsford, were named as beneficiaries. Crawford also spoke about the NGC Right on Track Programme.
'Come down here and go Toco half past five in the morning, and Rio Claro, when we're going on the Right on Track Programme, and then you're a coach. Ato don't know anything about that. But you're hurting us. This has
to stop. And when you attack Ephraim like that, I go fight you. He's attacking Ephraim unnecessarily. Why? What you doing? If Ephraim doing nonsense, I'll be the first to tell him.'
Crawford said a lot is being done for T& T athletes.
'Most of our young people, they can't buy a pair of shoes. We buy shoes for them. We don't put these things in the newspapers. Quietly, we take our money and help them by giving them a little money for food, for transport. People don't know these things. But Ato doesn't understand.
'We're not America,' Crawford continued. 'We don't have an adidas, no big company to give us money. We have to scrape and make ends meet, and you are hurting us with your comments. You're with adidas. Do you get a bag of gears for athletes? And you running your mouth and hurting us. And then you fly back. It's not right. What are you doing for track and field?'
Crawford was also hurting over the use of his name without permission. The former sprinter was advertised as a participant in the recent 'Football for a Cause' flood relief charity match.
'I'm tired of people using my name unnecessarily and without my permission. Nobody spoke to me. My knee ain't good. I cyah run. I go play football?
'When it first came out, I was happy. I say I supporting that. I going and talk some nonsense, carry a little cooler. But then they say Crawford playing football. And then they had me down as an assistant coach. And then they say I running with Ephraim Serrette. I stay quiet because I didn't want to
Hasely: Don't use my name like that
disrupt the thing. But I'm tired of that.
'You don't just use my name like that,' an incensed Crawford continued. 'People called me. A good friend, a lawyer, said 'Hasely you could get in trouble yuh know'. It has to stop. It's a disrespect. Don't feel you could do me anything and get away with it. I'm tired of it.'
Another sore point for Crawford was the 'Icons of Trinidad and Tobago' motivational video. The video, which features Boldon as the narrator and a host of other T&
T achievers, was launched last week. Crawford was originally included, but objected, and is not in the version that is currently on YouTube. The earlier version, however, has been circulating on social media, and Crawford is angry.
'There were two of my pictures. But when you look at it, what is circulating is Ato promoting himself. That is wrong. So I don't want to be a part of that, especially when you want to destroy my sport, and you're not doing anything to enhance or help.'
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Post by Admin on Dec 14, 2023 10:16:46 GMT
Hasely’s hurt 1976 Olympic champion fed up with Crawford Stadium snubsKwame Laurence Dec 11, 2023 Comments NATIONAL HERO: Hasely Crawford trinidadexpress.com/sports/local/hasely-s-hurt/article_fe30ae14-988a-11ee-a6e0-afcb4a6c40df.htmlHasely Crawford is very upset over a series of snubs at the facility named in his honour. In an interview with the Express, the 1976 Olympic Games men’s 100 metres champion explained that there are six seats assigned to him at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for any event at the venue as well as six parking passes. Additionally, two permanent parking spots have been set aside. Unfortunately, those entitlements have led to numerous embarrassing incidents. Back in 2001, Trinidad and Tobago hosted the FIFA U-17 World Cup. “They wouldn’t give me a ticket for the final,” Crawford lamented. “There were instructions, ‘Don’t give Hasely Crawford any ticket’. But I got in.” T&T’s first-ever Olympic champion said he also had major issues in August this year at the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG). “The opening of Commonwealth was bad. For two days I had problems getting in until Ephraim Serrette brought me an accreditation. On the day of the opening ceremony, a Minister was parked in one of my spots … did move eventually, but stayed for a while.” In another recent incident, Crawford was alarmed by the disrespectful response he got from a group of students at the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) opening when he spoke to them about standing in the aisles. He said he alerted a police officer and the SSFL president, and also went to the students’ school to report the incident. Crawford explained too that he had been offered tickets to attend SSFL games during the 2023 season. “One time, the SSFL president gave me a ticket. I told him ‘you’re not doing me no favours, I’m entitled to six tickets.’ Another time, he gave me two tickets. I didn’t take them. The promoters are the ones who are responsible for giving me the six tickets for their events. “The TTFA (Trinidad and Tobago Football Association) would give me tickets for their games, but I would often get them on the day, and that would create problems for my guests. One day I had a guest coming. I spoke to the guard to tell him my guest was coming in a brown car. They put someone else in the parking spot, and told me a TTFA man said to put him there.” Crawford’s family has also faced embarrassment at the stadium. “One year they had Soca Monarch. My wife and Kent Bernard’s wife went. They told them ‘no, no, no, this is VVIP, for the Prime Minister and a guest’. But that is where I’m supposed to go. My wife can’t take embarrassment, so she took off.” In order to avoid any further indignities, Crawford has opted to stay away from the Port of Spain facility. “I decided I’m not going anything in the stadium.” Crawford said that while he sometimes feels he should ask for his name to be removed from the stadium, he knows this is not the way to go. “I cannot do it because I cannot spit in the face of Trinidad and Tobago. They gave me that. Allyuh gave me that. But I hate going through this embarrassment.” Crawford said he has brought his concerns to the attention of the authorities, but to no avail. “The only Prime Minister I did not go to is this PM. I would go to PM Rowley, but I find he has too many things to do to see about a stadium.”
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