By Carlena Knight
President of the Antigua and Barbuda Athletics Association (ABAA) Everton ‘Mano’ Cornelius has responded to recent comments made by national shot putter, Jess St John, who claimed that she was left in the dark regarding financial support for her professional career.
St John spoke exclusively with Observer media in August where she shared that after having reached out to both the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the ABAA, she has received no word since.
But Cornelius is now responding to those claims and revealed that he never received any correspondence of the sort from St John.
He further mentioned that the ABAA however is not in any position to offer any kind of financial support at this time.
“I know some time ago when Jess came home, we had conversations; I know she was injured at one point in time. Since then, I haven’t had any conversations with Jess, but I heard the discussion on the radio. I haven’t received anything from her. We are in no position, none whatsoever to assist,” he explained.
The former Olympian says however that despite having created a committee to deal with overseas athletes, he admits there has not been that much dialogue going on. He says the focus has however been locally in ensuring protocols are observed and support is given during this Covid pandemic.
“I am going to be straight up and honest with you, I probably brought it up but we did not discuss it at length, but what we have basically been discussing how we can get back some form of training; see what all the clubs have been up to, make sure they are following the protocols and make sure we can help in any little way to ensure the safety of our athletes,” he admitted.
Cornelius was speaking on the Good Morning JoJo Sports show last week.