The 2012 Olympic Games is history and the celebrations for the “Golden Knights” – the men’s 4 x 400 metre relay team that won gold – are over.
It was certainly a tremendous ride over the past two weeks for Chris “Fireman” Brown, Demetrius Pinder, Michael Mathieu and Ramon “Fearless” Miller since they returned home from London, England. They were wined and dined everywhere they went and flooded with gifts, including photographs, watches, cellphones, land and money.
The men’s gold medal performance to upset the United States of America will definitely inspire a lot more young men to compete in the 400 metres with the hopes of getting a chance to be a part of the national team in the future. But what about those competitors who were in London as a part of the relay pool and didn’t get a chance to compete?
Only those competitors who compete are eligible for the medal or any incentive as the quartet received.
But at least the other competitors should have been invited to attend some of the functions, considering the fact that they were originally a part of the team. The same could be said for the other members of the 26-member team that represented the Bahamas.
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, the only swimmer to represent the Bahamas at the games, was in attendance for the team’s welcome home ceremony at the Lynden Pindling International Airport. But she vanished afterwards. It was as if her historic appearance in the final of the women’s 50 metres freestyle was not appreciated at all.
There was hardly any mention of her achievement, or any public recognition.
They were all a part of Team Bahamas.
