I’m sure everyone in the Turks and Caicos Islands, or with a connection to them, will be willing Delano Williams on in the Olympic Games in Rio this month. Delano, born in tiny Grand Turk with a population of 5,000 people, will be running in the 4 x 200 metres relay in front of some 100,000 bellowing spectators, and a global TV audience, when he is expected to start a leg for Team GB.
It is difficult to imagine, and harder still to describe, the atmosphere Delano will walk out to. I was lucky enough to be involved with the British participation in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where I was UK Consul-General. Because of my work with the team, Jill and I were privileged to attend some events in Sydney’s main stadium. We saw the Australian Aborigine runner, Cathy Freeman, storm through to win a Gold in the 400 metres. I’ll never forget the atmosphere in the stadium that night.
Delano will experience the same excitement, multiplied by millions, as he prepares for the run of his life. It is hard to think of anyone better able to handle the tension and the pressure. He is a well balanced man, modest but rightly ambitious, charming and great company. I can think of no better role model for the youth of Turks and Caicos Islands.
Let’s all hope that Delano and his team mates rise to the Rio occasion this month.
It will be truly wonderful for Turks and Caicos if he returns with a medal, which will also be a reward for the trust shown in him by his family, and friends and colleagues like Rita Gardiner, former head of TCI’s Commonwealth Games group. But whatever the outcome everyone in Turks and Caicos should take pride in his participation in the world’s greatest sporting event – an extraordinary achievement for someone from Grand Turk, which everybody there and in TCI should jointly celebrate.
