Women athletes beam

We hail their achievements.

With oars painted the national colours, rower Aisha Chow on Saturday made her debut and, after some choppy waters, she yesterday advanced to the quarter- final round of the women’s single sculls. Whatever the outcome going forward, Trinidad and Tobago can stand proud of her gutsy, resilient efforts.

Gymnast Marisa Dick also showed flair as she made history.

She debuted yet another signature move that will forever bear her name, a modification of the visually striking mount that sees her land, legs perfectly akimbo, on the slender beam. Dick also did very well in her vault, but had difficulty in the floor exercise and uneven bars. Still, like Chow, she has left a precedent for others to follow.

The journey to Rio, though, was far from smooth sailing.

Dick’s accomplishments were somewhat bitter sweet given the controversy surrounding how she was selected to compete in the event. Up until Sunday, as demonstrated by various posts on social media, the public remained split.

But while some were inclined not to support the Trinidad and Tobago representative, others pointed to the fact that she should not be penalised for the actions of administrators. Thema Williams has launched a lawsuit which is before the High Court.

In the interim, we cannot ignore that Dick, too, had qualified on the merit of her own years of hard work and that what took place falls at the feet of the TTGF.

At least from what is known publicly.

The difficult situation, though, perhaps resulted in a sour Twitter posting about poetic justice, supposedly by Williams. We hope that she – exercising good judgement – thought better and removed this post, if indeed we are to believe the various reports and assuming her Twitter account was not hacked. She may have opted to not watch the games, but it would be a shame if she does not take the opportunity to demonstrate positive sportsmanship going forward. Her time in court will come.

Yet, none of this distracts from the fact that TT’s Olympic campaign if off to a history-making start. We must credit the efforts of our women athletes in this regard.

It is fitting that in the year in which a female seems poised to become the first US president the Olympics has recorded its highest level of participation by females – 45 per cent. Our local contingent also comprises 11 women, the largest number of females that have been sent to represent us.

We hope the appearances of Chow and Dick inspire others to get involved in sports which have not been traditionally on the radar.

While we are surrounded by water, rowing has never been regarded as a mainstay on the sporting calendar.

And the dominance of bigger countries in gymnastics has not encouraged smaller nations to partake. There has also been, undeniably, a question of race.

Gymnastics has often been perceived as a white sport.But things have changed.

There is greater diversity today, as demonstrated by the composition of the top US team.

Looking ahead to Tokyo 2020, the State must nurture new initiatives in sport and recognise a wider net of disciplines. There is much potential in areas such as golf, rugby, basketball and tennis.

Indeed, our second-ever gold medal came from a discipline few were aware of prior to 2012: the javelin throw.

We wish Chow best of luck in her quarter-finals. And to the other athletes we say congratulations and wish them well. Go team TT!