Mom was driving force behind success – Hasely Crawford
Hasely Crawford won Olympics gold for Trinidad and Tobago in 1976.
Hasely Crawford won Olympics gold for Trinidad and Tobago in 1976.

NINETEEN-seventy-six Olympic 100-metre champion Hasely Crawford celebrated, on Saturday night, the 40th anniversary of his historic win in Montreal.Back then, Crawford snared Trinidad and Tobago’s first-ever OIympic gold medal, winning the blue riband event in 10.06s over Jamaica’s Donald Quarrie.
Last Saturday, family, friends and well-wishers, including West Indies great Brian Lara, gathered at Joseph’s Restaurant in Maraval for the occasion staged by the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago.
The OIympic gold medalist said his mother, Phyllis, was the driving force that pushed him to succeed.
“I could remember every night she would wash that one blue shirt and that khaki pants. And then in the morning time she would iron it and that blue shirt will start to turn white,” he recalled of his humble beginnings. “I said I must do something for this lady. My father died at an early age.”
The desire to see his mother live a better life, he said, pushed him towards the pinnacle of world sprinting.
“Things were really rough and I said someday I must do something so she could really attain a better life. That is one of the reasons why I won the gold medal,” he said.
He also hailed his coaches and support team that helped him achieve his goal.
Several personalities paid tribute to Crawford on the night, including Lara, who said the great excitement for him was when Crawford returned to the twin-island republic a hero.
“That (winning gold) was an amazing experience for me, but what was even more amazing and more of a personal touch for me is when my parents and my 10 siblings jumped into my father’s car and we headed to airport.
We got upstairs and we got a pretty good position and I held on as a seven-year-old to the railing, my two legs hanging over and Hasely arrived.”
Guests at the 40th anniversary celebrations included former Miss Universe Janelle Penny Commissiong, legendary masman Peter Minshall, former national cyclist Ian Atherly, as well as Chief Justice Ivor Archie and former chairman of the West Indies Cricket Board Ken Gordon.

Others who paid tribute to the iconic Olympian included NAAA president Ephraim Serrette, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon and Basil Ince, manager of the TT 1976 Olympic team.

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