EDITORIAL: PUT THE FOCUS BACK ON OUR SUCCESSFUL CARIFTA ATHLETES

We are concerned, worried and even alarmed that the huge success of Cayman’s athletes at the Carifta Games is at risk of being overshadowed by an increasingly acrimonious rift involving the Cayman Athletics Association and one of our former top athletes.

This public spat is not a good reflection on Cayman, the CAA or the person in question, especially when we should be celebrating the achievements of our athletes.

What’s worse is that it detracts from what should be a joyous occasion for our successful athletes who have returned home with a record-breaking haul across the medals table from a series of events at the Carifta Games.

Their outstanding achievement is what we should be focusing on and not amplifying or otherwise stirring the pot in search of salacious details of what might or might not have happened surrounding what clearly appears to have been an unfortunate and regrettable administrative foul-up.

That issue is best ironed out privately between the CAA and the aggrieved persons. Instead, it’s ballooning into a farcical sideshow that’s threatening to undermine the main event - the success of our athletes.

We should be celebrating their achievements, not click-baiting, public shaming and wallowing in a back-and-forth relay of mudslinging.

The medal haul, group and individual performances of our athletes are what deserve attention, not the scramble for attention on the sidelines.

They rightfully deserve credit for their commitment and hard work, along with the CAA for their preparations and coordination.

There seems to be no question that something administratively went regrettably wrong. What’s important is that it did not detract from the performance of the athletes.

What’s needed now is a full internal investigation into what went wrong so that it can be put right, and measures put in place to ensure that such unfortunate mishaps do not recur.

Washing every conceivable item of dirty laundry that can be unearthed and dragged into the melee, only reflects badly on all of us. Furthermore, it takes away the attention from where it really matters and from who matters most in this situation…our successful athletes.

We are better than this.

Let's get back to being Caymankind.