Olympic gold medal sprinter Jerome Blake was a special guest at Âé¶čAV council on Monday (Sept. 23).
âWeâd like to honour our hometown heroes who represented the country on the global stage,â said Doug Nicholas, sports and events services manager.
Blake is the first of three Âé¶čAV athletes who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games that will be honoured by the city. Marathon runner Malindi Elmore and wheelchair tennis player Robert Shaw will be recognized at the next two regular council meetings.
A video of the Canadian menâs 4x100 gold medal win at the Paris Games was shown at Mondayâs meeting.
âMany of us watched that Friday morning race in great anticipation,â Mayor Tom Dyas said.
Blake, along with teammates Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Andre De Grasse, turned in a time of 37.50 seconds. Wearing his gold medal, Blake talked about his experience in Paris.
âWe knew what the goal was because we felt we had the team in TokyoâŠand we came away with a silver and we still werenât very happy. We knew what we needed to do this time around.â
Blake told council he would like to see a world-class training facility established in Âé¶čAV to encourage young and upcoming athletes.
âThere is a lot of talent in the OkanaganâŠthere are other kids coming up behind me, seeing what Iâve done and they believe they can do the same thing as well. Having a high-performance facility will keep athletes hereâŠtheyâll work hard and achieve their goals.â
Referring to his future goals, Blake said the Canadian 100-metre record is on âborrowed timeâ adding that he is focusing on making the team for next yearâs World Championships.
The city presented Blake with an original painting of the Apple Bowl, by local artist Irina Bakumenko, where he used to train when he came to Âé¶čAV from Jamaica in 2013.
