Hasely Crawford (left), Candice Scott (centre), Edwin Roberts (right) at the National Amateur Athletic Association’s 2005 awards function (© ANISTO ALVES (Trinidad Express))
At the annual awards function of the National Amateur Athletic Association of Trinidad and Tobago which was held at the Crowne Plaza Ballroom in Port-of-Spain, on Saturday (7 Jan), 1976 Olympic 100m champion Hasely Crawford was inducted into the CAC Athletic Confederation (CACAC) Hall of Fame.
Crawford became Trinidad and Tobago’s first and only gold medallist in Olympic history when he captured the men's 100m title at the Olympic Games, in Montreal, Canada on 24 July 1976. A large man (1.90 / 87kg), Crawford won the title in 10.06 seconds to beat Jamaica’s Don Quarrie, who two days later would become 200m gold medallist, and Ukraine’s 1972 defending double sprint champion, Valeriy Borzov (URS). In Crawford’s honour a jet airliner was named after him but it had very much been his ‘day of days’ in Montreal as he was never again to run quicker than 10.19.
“It is with deep pride and honour that I accept this award,' said Crawford. "Thirty years ago, when I completed my Olympic feat, I never envisioned that the Olympic gold would today still be a rare commodity for us in Trinidad and Tobago. I want to publicly state that nothing would please me more than to see a repeat of this feat at the next Olympic Games.”
Also, inducted into the CAC Hall of Fame on the same night was Edwin Roberts, who bagged the men's 200m bronze at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and was a member of the Trinidad and Tobago 4x400m team that finished third in Tokyo.
In 1966, Roberts was also part of the Trinidad and Tobago quartet that established a new 4x440 yards World record of 3:02.8, when winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
Following his induction, Roberts said he still has ambitions in track and field. “The last thing I would like to do before I leave the face of the earth is to coach a Trinidad team.”
CAC Athletic Confederation (CACAC) President Victor Lopez described Crawford and Roberts as “two of the best sprinters in world history”.
Sprinter Marc Burns and Hammer Thrower Candice Scott were respectively named Trinidad and Tobago’s male and female athletes of the year for 2005.
Kwame Laurence - Trinidad Express - for the IAAF
