Prescott named secretary of regional Olympic body

Elton Prescott, an executive member of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee and lawyer by profession has been selected to the first ever Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC).

This was in Santo Domingo during the current Pan American Games. The official launching of CANOC follows four years of deliberation and the development of a constitution. CANOC’s inaugural chairman, Steve Stoute, who is also president of the Barbados Olympic Association, said the vision of the new grouping would be to promote, encourage and assist sport, sport development and physical recreation throughout the Caribbean for the benefit of the nations. The other members of the committee are: Secretary, Elton Prescott of Trinidad and Tobago; Vere Bird (Antigua), Don Anderson (Jamaica), Larry Davis (Bahamas), Guno Van Der Jagt (Suriname).

Stoute, who was the interim chairman since 1999, said CANOC would acknowledge the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the supreme authority of the Olympic movement. “CANOC would also ensure the observance of the Olympic charter, and contribute to the achievement of the goals set out therein, while upholding the fundamental principles of Olympism,” he said. “We will work assiduously to promote the shared values of integrity, fair play, discipline, commitment to excellence, and respect for gender equality and tolerance. “We will continue the fight against the use in sport of performance enhancing drugs and other unhealthy or psychotropic substances, consistent with the objectives of the World Anti-Doping Association,” he added. “We will provide a forum for the discussion and implementation of ideas and programmes for the development of sport, athletes, administrators and other professionals,” he said.