BASSETERRE, St Kitts & Nevis, CMC – The St Kitts and Nevis Amateur Athletics Association (SKNAAA) said an impasse involving its elite athletes at the Olympic Games in London last year has been resolved.
Athletes from the Federation were thrown into the spotlight in London following the withdrawal of the accreditation of veteran sprinter Kim Collins prior to the preliminaries of the 100 metres and the sending home of Tameka Williams for an alleged doping violation.
Public Relations Officer of the SKNAAA, Evris Huggins said that the athletes have apologised and the issue is now behind.
“We had to do an evaluation of what transpired in London and we met with all of the athletes who competed in London and gave them an opportunity to bring forth to the table what their interpretation of what transpired,” he said.
“We reviewed the contract and allowed them to see where they have made mistakes on the contract and where they breached the team contract and where they breached the code of conduct. They have all written letters of apologies to both the SKNAAA and SKNOC (St Kitts & Nevis Olympic Committee) and vowed not to have similar occurrences with that type of behavior because that is something we will not be tolerating.”
“We already began our quest to prepare these athletes for the off track aspect of the sport because it is very important,” stated Huggins.
However, Huggins did not reveal if Collins was among the athletes who submitted letters of apologies to the association.
“They have come to accept where they may have gone wrong last year and where they have been misled in some situations. I am very optimistic that the guys have looked at their situation, they have evaluated what they did, they have learned from it…we already accepted their apologies and we are moving forward.”
He said that Williams will not be allowed to compete until a final decision is made.
“There was a tribunal hearing in February 2013 and the report will be revealed in the near future. I don’t want to comment too much on that. She is not allowed to compete at the moment and that has already been communicated to her and it has also been communicated to the IAAF.”
