The following letter was sent to and copied to Dale Butler, Minister of Community Affairs and Sport

January 22, 2004

Dear Sir,

Sheldon Thompson has made many misleading statements in the article carried on the front page of the sports section in your newspaper on Tuesday (January 20). I am looking for equal coverage through this letter.

Here are the facts surrounding Sheldon Thompson?s errors and allegations.

1 The Senior CAC Track and Field Championships occur every two years. It is the prerogative of the Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) Directors to review qualifying standards/guidelines.

2 Sheldon Thompson did not achieve the qualifying standard/guideline of 1:55.0 for the men?s 800 metres set by the BTFA for the 1997 Senior CAC Track and Field Championships. Despite that fact, the BTFA considered other factors and selected him for those championships with the thought that the international exposure would be beneficial to him. Seven of the nine athletes selected by the BTFA each achieved one or more of the performance standards/guidelines set by the BTFA. The other athlete who did not achieve the qualifying performance, but benefited from similar considerations given to Sheldon Thompson by the BTFA, was selected for the sprints. (contrary to Sheldon Thompson?s statement, the athlete who was selected for the 5,000 metres had qualified and surpassed the standard by almost 25 seconds).

Sheldon Thompson placed 18th in the men?s 800 metres event with a time of 1:58.91 from a field of 20 competitors at the 1997 CAC Championships in Puerto Rico. Of the two competitors who placed lower than him, one did not finish the race and the other was disqualified.

The quality of the competition at the CAC Championships was such that the eight finalists ran times ranging from 1:47.78 to 1:50.88. The BTFA?s modest standard of 1:55.0 would not have placed an athlete in the top 15 in that event.

3 The BTFA, mindful that the Senior CAC Track and Field Championships is the entry level to international competition for our senior athletes and fully aware of the respective competitions within each discipline at the 1997 championships, set standards ? very modest again at that ? for the 1999 CAC Championships. One such marginal change was to the men?s 800 metres from 1:55.0 (in 1997) to 1:54.5.

While Sheldon Thompson registered improvement in 1998, it did not reflect when it mattered in 1999.

In 1999 Sheldon Thompson?s best 800 metres times were 1:58.5 (May 16), 1:59.7 and 1:57.7 (June 5, his best 800 metres time that year). None of those times were at the level of the 1997 or 1999 qualifying standards.

During that same period in 1999, there was another, younger, male 800 metres runner also vying for a spot on the BTFA?s team for the 1999 Senior CAC Championships. That younger male athlete, also based locally, recorded times of 1:56.9 (May 1), 1:56.05 (May 29) and in three head-to head competitions with Sheldon Thompson, ran faster times than Sheldon on all three occasions, including at the BTFA (June 5-6) National Track and Field Championships. The BTFA selected its team for the June 1999 CAC Championships after the National Championships. The BTFA Directors chose the younger male to compete in the 800 metres.

Before the team departed Bermuda for Barbados, that younger athlete recorded a time of 1:54.20, thereby achieving the qualifying standard, something Thompson failed to do.

Ten athletes achieved qualifying performances for the 1999 Senior CAC Track and Field Championships. One athlete had to decline selection because of commitments to university summer courses. Two other athletes were juniors and the BTFA decided it would be premature to have them compete at senior level competition at that time. In the end, seven athletes represented the BTFA at the 1999 CAC Track and Field Championships. No athlete was selected to compete in the 5000 metres that year.

4 The New England Track and Field Championships ? an open meet ? in which Sheldon Thompson competed and to which he referred in the article was held June 13, 1998, in Needham, Massachusetts. Apart from the 1997 CAC Championships, that was Sheldon Thompson?s first overseas track meet. On that occasion Sheldon Thompson placed tenth in the 800 meters championship race with a time of 2:02.1. The first eight runners had times ranging from 1:50.6 to 1:53.6. (Thompson?s hotel accommodations, meals, and airfare were covered by the BTFA). Later, that same month, the BTFA covered his expenses to travel to and compete in the Barbados National Track and Field Championships.

5 The BTFA has also afforded Sheldon Thompson opportunities to compete in the Senior CAC Cross Country Championships. Those championships, like other international competitions, are open to any Bermudian athlete (subject to selection criteria). Sheldon Thompson competed in Costa Rica in 1998. More recently he had the opportunity to train and try to claim a spot on the 2001 BTFA Cross-Country team when the CAC Cross Country Championships were held in Bermuda at the Port Royal Golf Course. He declined the invitation.

6 During the late 1990s, the BTFA also made (strenuous) representation to the Bermuda Olympic Association (BOA) on Sheldon Thompson?s behalf, to have him recognised as an athlete who should receive some funding from the Elite Athlete Fund (a grant provided by the Bermuda Government). The BTFA?s efforts eventually produced some measure of success/support for Thompson.

7 It was foolhardy for Sheldon Thompson, an 800 metre athlete, to race 13-plus miles (i.e. the 1999 Bermuda Day Race) when approximately only two weeks remained to the qualifying period for the 1999 international competition for which he had not qualified and for which he had aspirations to qualify. While the Bermuda Day race has its importance, it had little value to an 800 metres runner given the time-sensitive important issues at stake at that time.

Additionally, Thompson gave little consideration to the recovery time that is needed from such a long distance race (under hot, humid conditions) and the impact to the limited available time that remained to the qualifying period.

The coach-athlete relationship is supposed to be a mutually respectful and sharing partnership. Yet Sheldon Thompson?s decision to run that Bermuda Day Race and exercise the extra training that went beforehand was done without my knowledge (or approval). The inevitable rest that followed the Heritage Day Race ate valuable time that should have been dedicated to his preparation for his international goal. None of that was beneficial to Thompson?s primary 800 metres goal and his behaviour demonstrated a serious level of disrespect/disregard for the coach-athlete partnership.

Thompson?s conduct was to his own detriment.

Sheldon Thompson?s splintered regard for the truth seems to centre solely around the fact that he, apart from the fact that he did not qualify, was not selected for the 1999 CAC Track and Field Championships.

Sheldon Thompson is an adult and needs to measure up to that status. He needs to accept the facts and take responsibility for his own injudicious acts. Contrary to his highly erroneous allegations, the facts clearly show that he has been encouraged and afforded opportunities in the sport by the BTFA. I certainly was one of his avid supporters. The BTFA and I are not responsible for his failings or shortcomings.

Opportunities to compete internationally continue. Sheldon Thompson has not made any effort toward international track and field competition since 1999, a decision that he, and he alone, has made.

Contrary to his opinion that no athletes have been developed in the national programme under me, there are athletes even at the junior level who, in recent years, have achieved performances at, or above, the level of the qualifying standards for the Sr. CAC Track and Field Championships. They include Latroya Darrell (15 years old), Brittney Marshall (16 years old), Zindzi Swan (18 years old and has athletic scholarships offers), Raneika Bean (now 20 years old and on a soccer scholarship), James Bergl (18 years old), Richard Walcott (now 20 years old and on an athletics scholarship) and Gabriel Wilkinson (now 21 years old and on an athletics scholarship). Even more impressive is the fact that one of those athletes, still a junior, has produced performances to the level of standards for the most recent Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, competitions that are at a much higher level than CAC competitions.

January 22, 2004

Dear Sir,

The Bermuda Track and Field Association, the Bermuda International Race Weekend Organising Committee and all of our volunteers work very hard each year to produce a successful event. This year?s event was no exception ? with more than 1,000 visitors travelling to Bermuda to compete and support participants registered in each race.

At a time when Bermuda has caught the attention of the running world, why on earth would our only daily newspaper write negative stories that are not substantiated by any facts? Would it not be in all of our best interest if our visitors saw and heard the best about Bermuda so that they would plan a return visit later in the year or again next year?

Are we not trying to boost our tourist arrivals each year especially in the shoulder months?

If the negative story was meant to capture attention ? it did! But it may not have had the impact that you had hoped! Our participants were bewildered and angry by your attack simply because they have been coming to Bermuda for International Race Weekend for years and have never experienced any regression. In their opinion the standard has been raised each year and the organisation keeps getting better! They will write to express their views separately.

In the meantime, we will share with your reading audience some of the e-mails that have been received so far from our participants and they can judge for themselves:

From Phillip Sly - invited Elite Athlete:

Hello Judith,

Please accept my sincere gratitude to you and all involved in the International Race Weekend. It was lovely to meet you and it was a great experience and one that I will talk fondly of to my running colleagues.

Congratulations on staging an event that captures the intimacy and openness of Bermuda. I look forward to participating next year and if I can be of assistance in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me directly or through my friend and manager, Sergey Krasnoshchekov.

Kind regards,

Phill,

Richmond, Surrey, UK

Thanks for writing back. I actually bought one (T-Shirt) yesterday right before I left Bermuda. Again, thanks for putting on a great marathon! We had a fabulous time. ? Heather, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Thank you.

The full marathon pictures are not there . . . only the half. But I have requested from them when the pics will be there. I also wanted to say . . . I had a wonderful time in your marathon and in your country. Thank you so much for hosting us. I hope you have a wonderful year!

Sue Diefenderfer, Sarasota, Florida.

Hi Judith,

I want to first thank you for accepting my runners in this year?s races. I am glad they performed fairly well!

I am also sorry about the somewhat bad press your event had. I have always heard, nothing but good things about your race weekend.

Sincerely,

Tim Forrester, Hamilton, Ontario

Hi Pam,

The ?Greenlands? group was very sad not to be able to come down and join you this past weekend. House is under construction.

I have just looked at the results and feel our runners could have won some prizes once again. We?ll be there next year for sure. I?d like to run once more, too. Only sad thing is that Reggie Cooper once told me he?d give a prize for the 80s if I made it. I?ll be 80 this year.

I wonder if you?d send me my best time for the 10K in the 70 age group. I?m going to be on a panel for ?Ageing? in Boston this April and would like to tell them that running is great no matter what age.

Best wishes, Cricket Laun, Massachusetts

Roger,

Just wanted to congratulate you and your fellow directors on a well run race weekend. As a participant, the organisation seemed superb, loads of marshalls and officials, great medals and even the weather improved on Sunday.

Now what is needed is a major sponsorship deal so it will help improve the finances.

Stephen D, Bermuda

Based on the above assessments of our event , clearly, you are the one who is out of touch, especially since several other participants voiced their pleasure verbally and vowed to return next year.

Tourism will never survive if our visitors are chased away from any activity in Bermuda. It is their right to choose to visit and participate ? not yours and it certainly is not your right to discourage them from participating or visiting Bermuda because of your likes or dislikes! The Bermuda economy needs our event in January whether or not you recognise and appreciate the value of our contribution.SPORTSEDITOR?SNOTE: Nice try Judy, but I would have thought the dozens of prizewinner?s cheques that ?bounced? last year would have had a far more detrimental effect on International Race Weekend thanany articles that appeared in this newspaper.

Much like the author of a letter to Sports Mailbox last week ? also a member of your organisation ? you seem to have conveniently ignored the enormous amount of positive publicity ? articles, pictures and results ? which appeared in this paper, before, during and after your big event.

Perhaps we should list the e-mails and telephone calls we received from runners congratulating on its coverage.