Sports

Local Athletics Coach Emmanuel Loblack is Peeved Over Romain’s selection

By DWNews Editor ⋅ July 27, 2008 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Sun-Weekend.com - Saturday July 26 2008

ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) – Local athletics coach Emmanuel Loblack is peeved over the selection of United States-based Jerome Romain as the coach of Dominica’s team for the Beijing Olympics next month.

Earlier this month, a release from the Dominica Amateur Athletics Association (DAAA) stated that Romain had been appointed as the coach of the team to accompany athletes Ericson Hurtault and Chris Lloyd to Beijing.

However, Loblack, who is the president of the Olympians Athletics Club, said a local coach should have been favoured over Romain to travel with the team to the Olympics.

“We are the ones who are keeping the sport alive on the island,” Loblack said.

“We are the ones who are working consistently with the athletes, just to see them improve. Why should the local authorities abandon the local coaches, who have made a significant contribution to the development of athletics for someone who has turned his back on us?” Loblack inquired.

Romain, who was born in the French Caribbean island of St. Martin, competed successfully for Dominica during the 1990s but switched allegiance to France in 1999.

According to Loblack, Romain turned his back on Dominica when he opted to represent France.

“Here it is that we have somebody as part of our team, who has no regard for us. He refused to run for Dominica and instead chose to represent France. What is his contribution to athletics on the island? Has he conducted any training sessions so as to improve the skills and techniques of our athletes? Has he assisted athletes in one way or the other? What has he done? Really, it is very unfair that he was selected over some of our local athletes,” said Loblack, who is also a national sports officer.

Currently, the assistant track and field coach at Brown’s University in the United States, Romain represented Dominica in the triple jump at the Centennial Games in Atlanta in 1996 and is the country’s most decorated competitor in international track and field competition.

He won a triple jump bronze medal at the 1995 World Championship in Gothenburg after capturing silver in the event at the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina.

Tags: 2008 Summer Olympics, Argentina, Beijing Olympics, France, Olympic Games, Pan American Games, Sports, United States