ANTIGUANICE YACHTING INSIDER NEWSLETTER

Article taken from the Daily Observer - The country’s lone outright qualifier for the Youth Olympics thus far, Kite-boarder Tiger Tyson, will have his preparation for the October event in Buenos Aires, Argentina, funded by the National Olympic Committee (NOC). This was confirmed by president of the NOC and the country’s sports minister, EP Chet Greene, who said the athlete qualifies for Olympic funding.

“We’d asked them to provide Tiger’s training budget, so the NOC could look at it with a view towards funding, making sure the athlete is best prepared for the event. Tiger, obviously, is not an ordinary athlete, but the young kid is a really super kid and the NOC will do everything because it’s an Olympic engagement, and so funding exists for preparation under the Olympic funding and we will make sure he gets the necessary preparation,” Greene said.

The 15-year-old qualified for the event after winning the North American and Caribbean Olympic Qualifiers in the Dominican Republic on 19th January. Given the infancy stage of the sport here, in terms of its popularity, Greene said that Tyson would need all the support available to him.

“Yes, it is true that the sport of kiteboarding is not a very popular sport in Antigua. We may see some of it happen over Jabberwock and you know when an athlete becomes an elite athlete or an exceptional athlete, you need to have competition, and so we foresee that between now and October when the games take place in Argentina we need extend to Tiger [help with] his preparation, his medical and all of the facets and components of keeping an athlete in top shape for competition,” the NOC head said.

The Youth Olympics will run from October 6th - 18th, 2018.