MINISTER OF Sport and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe has offered her tribute to late TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Alexander B Chapman, who died on Saturday. He was 93.
In a media release issued on Monday, Cudjoe said, “Chapman was a sporting icon, who made an indelible contribution to sports in TT.
Aas a sportsman and coach, then administrator, Chapman was instrumental in TT’s earliest participation and successes at the Olympics.”
Chapman dedicated over three decades to the area of sports administration.
The TTOC, the Commonwealth Games Association and the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organisation were among some of the sporting bodies with which he worked. He served as TTOC president from 1989-1997.
He was a former national weightlifter who made the transition from athlete to coach where he worked with a number of TT Olympians.
He later utilised this practical knowledge and experience towards advancing sport administration.
In 1983, he was awarded the Hummingbird Medal Silver for his contribution to sports administration.
Cudjoe said, “He was fondly known as Mr Olympic and though given to him in good fun, the name suited him as he lived the Olympic philosophy of balancing body, will and mind. Chapman’s career epitomised that harmony.
“Chapman’s passing is a great loss to the sporting community of TT and the region.
“His contributions to our nation’s Olympic journey will forever be etched in our sporting history. On behalf of the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs I extend sincerest condolences to his family, his friends and the sporting fraternity of TT.”