Paris, France – Within the wake of Danniel Thomas-Dodd’s disappointing exit from the ladies’s shot put competitors on the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games, the 31-year-old athlete has made sturdy allegations in opposition to the Jamaica Olympic Affiliation (JOA), and the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Affiliation (JAAA) accusing the organizations of neglecting subject occasions and offering insufficient help to throwers.
Thomas-Dodd, who did not advance to the ultimate spherical after ending thirteenth total with a season-best throw of 18.12 meters, expressed her frustration in a candid post-competition assertion.
“I’m very dissatisfied, clearly. It’s one thing that’s greater than inside my capabilities of doing. Sadly, it simply didn’t come collectively on the day. It’s the second Olympics now that I’ve completed within the thirteenth spot; it’s the second Olympics now that I’ve requested to have my coach with me and was denied,” Thomas-Dodd stated, highlighting a recurring challenge that she believes has hampered her Olympic efficiency.
Thomas-Dodd, who has achieved important success on the world stage, together with World Indoor and Out of doors Championships silver medals and a Commonwealth Video games gold medal, didn’t maintain again in criticizing the 2 organizations for what she perceives as an absence of respect and help for subject occasions in Jamaica.
“For all the pieces that I’ve finished up to now for this nation of Jamaica and what I’ve finished for throws in Jamaica, you’d suppose that the least I may get is the respect that I really feel I deserve. Give me what all of my opponents have,” she acknowledged. “It’s powerful going into a contest when mentally, you want issues had been completely different. It’s simply irritating having to cope with a corporation that has no respect for the sphere occasions in Jamaica.”
– Commercial –
Thomas-Dodd’s frustration
Thomas-Dodd’s frustration was additional fueled by the irony that Jamaica’s solely gold medal at these Olympics, up to now, has come from a thrower—an achievement she feels underscores the necessity for higher funding and respect for subject athletes.
“It’s very irritating to look at everybody on the market having all the pieces that they should their consolation, and it’s heart-breaking. Many of the medals we now have obtained up to now have come from subject occasions, and we’re probably the most looked-down-on occasion in Jamaica monitor and subject. They hold forgetting it’s not simply monitor; it’s referred to as monitor and subject,” she lamented.
In response, JOA President Christopher Samuda issued a robust assertion addressing Thomas-Dodd’s claims, describing them as “most unlucky and very deceptive.” Samuda identified that Thomas-Dodd had personally benefited from thousands and thousands of {dollars} in monetary help from the JOA by the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship, funds that are meant to cowl coaching, journey, and different bills.
“It’s most unlucky and very deceptive for Miss Dodd to make statements to the impact that the Jamaica Olympic Affiliation will not be helping subject occasions and throwers, and he or she did not disclose that she personally benefited from thousands and thousands of {dollars} from the JOA underneath the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship,” Samuda stated.
“I’m allowing Miss Dodd the chance to make clear issues and to speak in confidence to the general public how a lot she acquired over 4 years, demonstrating that the info will not be solely telling however turning into of the reality.”
Important contributions
Samuda additional emphasised that the JOA has made important contributions to the event of subject occasions in Jamaica, citing the instance of funds expended to restore lights on the Usain Bolt Observe on the College of the West Indies, which was finished in response to a request from discus thrower Fedrick Dacres.
“Miss Dodd can also be totally conscious that her colleagues within the subject of play—Odane Richards, Fedrick Dacres, Chai Chang, and others—have all benefited financially from the Jamaica Olympic Affiliation, and Miss Dodd asserts that nothing is being finished by the JOA to help throwers,” Samuda added.
“When in response to the decision of Fedrick Dacres, the JOA expended funds to restore the lights on the Usain monitor to allow coaching to be carried out after daylight when funding from third events couldn’t be secured. Is that not helping throwers? And subject occasions?”
Samuda additionally addressed Thomas-Dodd’s considerations in regards to the absence of her coach, explaining that the JOA doesn’t choose coaches however solely accredits people on lists offered by member federations and validated by worldwide governing our bodies.
“It’s so unlucky, however Miss Dodd should, in these issues, be true to herself and the nation,” Samuda concluded. “The JOA is not going to be deterred from supporting our sportsmen and girls, and we congratulate our first-time Olympians who seized the second and earned medal glory for our beloved nation.”
Thomas-Dodd’s feedback and Samuda’s response spotlight a rising stress between athletes and the administration, elevating questions on how sources are allotted and whether or not extra may be finished to help Jamaica’s subject occasion athletes. As the talk continues, it stays to be seen how these points will probably be addressed sooner or later to make sure that all Jamaican athletes obtain the help they should excel on the world stage.
