A new billboard featuring Commonwealth and World Championship medallist Sada Williams, commissioned by the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) Inc., has been erected at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.
The billboard was unveiled on Thursday, March 9, during a brief ceremony at the BOA’s Wildey, St. Michael Headquarters. The unveiling followed a tour of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex by an International Olympic Committee (IOC) delegation led by President Thomas Bach, OLY. The ceremony was among the activities Bach and his eight-member team, including President of Panam Sports Neven Ilic, participated in while visiting the island from March 8-10.
Addressing those gathered for the unveiling, including IOC Honorary Member Sir Austin Sealy, BOA Secretary General Erskine Simmons, and other Members of the Board, as well as staff of the BOA, President Sandra Osborne said the billboard represents one of the BOA’s strategic pillars – ‘Inspiring Excellence, Fuelling Passion’. Moreover, she said it is in keeping with the BOA’s efforts to promote athletes’ achievements. In 2022, the 25-year-old Williams won a gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, silver at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships and bronze at the World Championships.
Before the new billboard’s debut, the IOC President also delivered remarks. Bach said he hoped that the billboard and the Olympic scholarship Williams received would motivate her to continue her path of success.
President Bach continued, “And then in Paris to achieve your personal best, whatever that in the end means, because that is the most important thing in any competition, to know as an athlete that I have done my best and I have achieved my best”.
Meanwhile, an ecstatic Williams thanked the IOC President for his kind words and the BOA for its continued support.
“I really appreciate it, and I’m looking forward to Paris 2024,” she remarked.
Barbados was the second last stop on Bach’s tour of National Olympic Committees in Central America and the Caribbean. He visited seven countries over two weeks.