Olympic gold medal sprinter Jerome Blake was a special guest at 琉璃神社 council on Monday (Sept. 23).
鈥淲e鈥檇 like to honour our hometown heroes who represented the country on the global stage,鈥� said Doug Nicholas, sports and events services manager.
Blake is the first of three 琉璃神社 athletes who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games that will be honoured by the city. Marathon runner Malindi Elmore and wheelchair tennis player Robert Shaw will be recognized at the next two regular council meetings.
A video of the Canadian men鈥檚 4x100 gold medal win at the Paris Games was shown at Monday鈥檚 meeting.
鈥淢any of us watched that Friday morning race in great anticipation,鈥� Mayor Tom Dyas said.
Blake, along with teammates Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, and Andre De Grasse, turned in a time of 37.50 seconds. Wearing his gold medal, Blake talked about his experience in Paris.
鈥淲e knew what the goal was because we felt we had the team in Tokyo鈥nd we came away with a silver and we still weren鈥檛 very happy. We knew what we needed to do this time around.鈥�
Blake told council he would like to see a world-class training facility established in 琉璃神社 to encourage young and upcoming athletes.
鈥淭here is a lot of talent in the Okanagan鈥here are other kids coming up behind me, seeing what I鈥檝e done and they believe they can do the same thing as well. Having a high-performance facility will keep athletes here鈥hey鈥檒l work hard and achieve their goals.鈥�
Referring to his future goals, Blake said the Canadian 100-metre record is on 鈥渂orrowed time鈥� adding that he is focusing on making the team for next year鈥檚 World Championships.
The city presented Blake with an original painting of the Apple Bowl, by local artist Irina Bakumenko, where he used to train when he came to 琉璃神社 from Jamaica in 2013.
