Left: Richard Thompson celebrates his Olympic silver medal in the 100m final. Right: Ato Boldon says the Caribbean Games could not have come at a better time. - file

port-of-spain, trinidad (cmc)

Trinidad and Tobago's (T&T) Olympic 100-metre silver-medallist Richard Thompson is aiming for gold at the inaugural Caribbean Games at home next summer.

Attending a press conference to promote the 2009 Caribbean Games at the Hasely Crawford Stadium yesterday, Thompson said he and his teammates would be inspired to deliver top performances in front of the home fans.

"We don't want to make any bold promises, but we're definitely working towards bringing a gold medal home and showcasing what we have right here in T&T," Thompson said.

Thompson, runner-up to Jamaican Usain Bolt in the 100-metre final in Beijing, also anchored T&T's silver medal 4x100-metre relay effort.

He is looking forward to representing T&T at home.

"It's always special to run in front of the home crowd and give them something that you don't really see that often here in T&T."

The 23-year-old also noted that the profile of the games had been given a boost following the performances of the local and regional athletes in Beijing last month.

Great expectations

"I know that the expectations have gone up a lot since the Olympic Games with me winning the silver and the relay team winning silver as well," he said.

"A lot will be expected of T&T, so we want to start right here at home next year and turn those medals into gold when we are competing against Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell. We just want to give T&T that great performance," Thompson said.

Quadruple Olympic medallist, Ato Boldon, also attended the press conference and said that in the wake of the Beijing Olympics, the inaugural Caribbean Games could not have come at a better moment for regional athletics.

"The composition of the Olympic final is pretty much all that needs to be looked at in terms of the dominance the Caribbean had in these past Olympic Games," said Boldon.

"With the exception of the two Americans, every single man in the Olympic 100-metre final was of Caribbean birth, and that is significant," he added.

"What is more significant is that after the Sydney Games, someone had the idea to have the Caribbean Games and we are very fortunate to be hosting it. But given the success that the Caribbean had in Beijing, it now seems like a stroke of genius."

The inaugural Caribbean Games will feature 26 countries from around the region competing in track and field, boxing, tennis, netball and volleyball in T&T from July 13-19 next year.