By Neto Baptiste
The field event of javelin received a major boost on Thursday when former national athlete and a potential presidential candidate leading into planned elections for the Antigua and Barbuda Athletic Association (ABAA), Teddy Daley, presented coach Marlon Mack with five of eight promised new javelins.
The brief handing over ceremony which took place at the YASCO Sports Complex saw Daley, a former executive member of the athletics association, present the long awaited javelins to Mack who is one of the country’s leading coaches in that event.
“We only had three javelins for athletes to train with and they were damaged because some of them did not have the ends. In addition to that, the implements in terms of the size and the weight of the javelin, the range of the javelin were wrong. So our athletes were practicing with something that they would not compete with when they go to competition the field, everything is different and they get thrown off; this has happened to us on several occasions. I was determined that this was not going to happen this time and now you have the correct implements to train with, you are going to get accustomed to the feel. The muscle memory is going to kick in with the competition starts and performances will be raised as a result of that,” he said.
Daley explained that three of the eight javelins are yet to arrive as there seemed to have been a ‘mix-up’ in the shipping arrangements.
The coach, who first made the announcement that he would be making the donation in October, admitted he was beginning to get a bit worried with the lengthy delay in the arrival of the implements but believes that coach Mack will make proper use of the javelins.
“I did get a little frustrated because we got confirmation that the javelins were delivered to my mailbox probably days after I was on [Observer radio] and because of the storm that passed through the south-eastern United States, a lot of shipping got backed up and that happened to be among them. Every week I was promised they would be coming and so it was getting a little frustrated but they finally arrived in time. The athletes have four months to train with the correct implements so that they can be well-prepared for Carifta of 2025,” he said.
The eight javelins have a total value of EC$6,700.
Daley officially announced his intentions to run for the ABAA’s top spot in October, after he had tendered his resignation as an Ordinary Member in August.
Daley resigned following the association’s failure to meet an extended registration deadline for four national youth athletes who had met qualifying standards for the 2024 World Athletics Under-23 Championship held in Lima, Peru, from august 27-31.
