Relay Fair 2021 falls victim to COVID pandemic

The recent spike in COVID-19 cases across Barbados continues to take casualties as social and sporting events keep falling like flies. The most recent of which is the annual Barbados Relay Fair which was slated to take in its 18th edition at the National Stadium on February 13th

In a statement which was released to members of the public this past weekend, it was announced that the athletics meet, which missed only 2008 due to issues with the track at the Stadium after getting started in 2003, would not be getting out of the starting blocks this year due to current climate as it relates to the pandemic in Barbados. Speaking to The Barbados Advocate, Relay Fair Event Strategist Kimberley Rudder said that it was going to be sorely missed this year by the organisers as well as the athletes, who look to the event as another sound platform to gauge and improve themselves.

Going on to say that she even heard anticipation for the annual event from as far back as November last year, she added that she also expects fans to be tremendously disappointed.

“We are going to feel it but I think that everybody understands the importance and the reason behind it. We were trying to be as resilient as we could be in terms of putting everything into place as far as was reasonably possible, but then as things got closer, critical decisions had to be made. And then the changing scene of the pandemic, we had to make that final decision which is a sad one but everybody’s safety and health is important,” Rudder said.

With the Relay Fair marking yet another major landmark on the local athletics calendar that has suffered at the hands of the pandemic, it remains painfully clear that the progress and development of local athletes was likely to come under pressure. However, Rudder, who believes that one of the qualities of an athlete is to be resilient and to be able to adapt to environments, urged local athletes to use the downtime wisely.

“Use the time to develop the mental skills because that is so important in Track and Field. Use the time to practice the visualisation techniques. Use the time to set goals. Use the time to work on some additional strengths – core strength, upper-body strength. But use this time to develop themselves in a positive way. Don’t waste any time lamenting because we all understand the reason why. Use the time to build on yourself in your Track and Field or some other aspect,” she said. (MP)