Carmona: Support Team TT, Full stop.

The President made the remarks at his toast to the nation at Queen’s Hall, Port-of-Spain yesterday, as he called on citizens to stand behind their athletes, despite their disappointing performance at the recently concluded 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“It is every right of us to feel disappointed, but patriotism must not be selective, it must not be convenient and it must not be transient.

Our patriotism and love of country must not translate to our successes alone but to our successes as well as our failures. You support your team. Full stop.” Carmona added that Trinidad and Tobago’s athletes faced numerous challenges on their road to the Olympics which they overcame and called on critics to think twice before they denigrate athletes.

“Recently I’ve noticed that many Trinidadians are only interested in the finished product. They do not care about the road that it has taken to reach to that point, the hard work that took to reach success. All they want is the finished product and they want it immediately, we need to start appreciating the process it takes to get to that finished product,” he said.

Carmona also called on citizens to use the occasion to engage in deeper reflection on the state of the nation and urged persons to embody, Trinidad and Tobago’s watch words as part of their daily lives.

“We need to engage in deeper thought in order to determine where we are going as individuals and as a nation.

“We need to use the watch words of Discipline, Tolerance and Respect individually and collectively as we continue to aspire for greatness.”