Turks and Caicos Islands Commonwealth Games Team Return after making history

The Turks and Caicos Islands participated in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 in Birmingham, England which took place from July 28-August 8. They returned to the islands on Thursday, August 11^th to a hearty welcome from the TCI Sports Commission and Commonwealth Games Association executive members. Despite the team not garnering medals, history was made with athletes breaking a national record, recorded new personal bests and season’s bests, and newly made finals.

We were represented in three sporting disciplines: Cycling, Athletics (Track & Field) and Swimming (Aquatics).

Here’s a quick highlight of key accomplishments achieved by athletes at the Commonwealth Games:

• Ifeanyichukwu Otuonye making it to the finals for the second time in a row and placing 8^th in the Men’s Long Jump. He recorded a season’s best of 7.80m. 
• The Men’s 4x100m relay team shattering the National Record, achieving a time of 41.17.
• Rohan Shearer swimming towards a number of new personal bests including winning his heat in the 100m Freestyle at 56.78.
• Yanique Haye-Smith making history, as the first woman from the Turks and Caicos Islands to make it to the finals at the Commonwealth Games, in the Women’s 400m hurdles. She finished with a time of 58.20. 

Upon arrival at the airport, the team was enthusiastic and made remarks about how they felt coming out of the games. President of the Commonwealth Games Association (CWA), Godfrey Been welcomed the athletes and remarked on their performance by saying “We did a wonderful and tremendous job over there at the Commonwealth Games..this Commonwealth Games, you [athletes] put all of that [public doubts] to rest…Track athletes, you performed to the highest.”   

Rosalie Ingham, General Secretary of the TCAAA, expressed gratitude to her management team who assisted her throughout the games. She also thanked everyone for making the CWG 2022 experience possible. With bouts of passion, she shared how proud everyone was of the athletes despite not returning with the medals they were anticipating. “We made it to finals in 2 events (Men’s Long Jump & Women’s 400m Hurdles), we did well in Swimming and we showed up and performed in cycling.”

Edith Skippings, President of TCAAA congratulated each athlete who competed in games and special congratulations to Mrs. Yanique Haye-Smith on her accomplishment of being the first female athlete in the Turks and Caicos to make the finals in the CWG.  Further comments from Skippings, “We are looking for support from the public, from the government and from the corporate public of Turks and Caicos because much work and preparation still needs to be done in all the disciplines to move sports forward here in the Turks and Caicos.” 

Mr. Randy Ford, Head Coach for the games shared gratitude to the Turks and Caicos for their support and vicariously living the experience with the team. Mr. Ford stated, “I am personally inspired by the performance of all our athletes and as such I’d like to continue the journey…We broke a national record and I think if we continue doing that and just aim for a better performance each time, we will get there and we will rub shoulders with the best in the world as we saw earlier this week and last week.” 

“To all my athletes out there who are watching and listening, it can only get better if you put the sacrifice and time in and put some passion with it.”

Ifeanyichukwu Otuonye, the Athlete’s Representative, stated that he has been to a total of three Commonwealth Games and believes it is an experience where athletes from different sports come together revealing camaraderie amongst all teammates representing their country in each chosen sport. He expressed that the plethora of athletes he was introduced to built a community for TCI at the games. Despite the trials each individual athlete endured, the Commonwealth Games were very successful according to Otuonye, believing each person exceeded his or her expectations.

“I had my own expectations coming in, by a miracle making the finals and I ended up making the Top 8” Otuounye said proudly. The Long Jump National Record holder digressed and said “Sometimes in sports you just need a chance, you go to the big stage and you see what happens. That’s what we're trying to emulate for everyone. 

“We have the talent, we have the people, and we have the athletes. What we need is support.”

Cyclist Sean Rodgers, shared that prior to the games he had plans on retiring but after the support that was given from the CWA and the public he decided to compete for another year. He further commented “I want to say to all the athletes whether you get a medal or not, giving your best is a victory in itself…competing with world-class athletes was a victory and thanks all who made it possible.”

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Photos from the Commonwealth Games Team Arrival