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The St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Committee (SKNOC) and SKN athlete Kim Collins, have finally settled their differences and has cleared  a path had now been cleared for Mr. Collins to participate at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as an athlete of the St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Team, following closure on the long-standing issues between the two parties.

The issues, dating back from the London 2012 Olympics, were discussed at a meeting convened via teleconference on Saturday July 16th, 2016, in the presence of SKNOC representatives based at its Headquarters in Basseterre, St. Kitts, Kim Collins and Ms. Paula Collins, wife and coach of Mr. Collins.

During the meeting, Mr. Collins expressed his desire to participate as a member of the St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Team.

President, Mr. Alphonso Bridgewater, said, “I personally welcome this new development and am pleased that Mr. Collins is now willing to compete for his country. The SKNOC and Kim Collins are committed to working together with renewed goodwill and in the interest of athletes of the St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Team and the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. The full extent of our energies must now be focused on the final preparations and performance of the St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Team in Rio.”

Kim Collins said, “I am extremely happy that our longstanding issues have finally been put to rest. With this behind us, my coach and I will now continue to put our full focus on ensuring that I am in the best shape for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.”

As discussed at the meeting, the SKNOC agreed with Mr. Collins that, as a pre-requisite to final confirmation as a member of The St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Team, Mr. Collins must sign off and adhere to the standard SKNOC Athletes’ contract(s) for representation of SKN at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The SKNOC and Mr. Collins wish to extend their gratitude and appreciation to all the individuals, institutions and groups who had a role to play in facilitating the process to this point.

The final list of the St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Team athletes for Rio 2016 will be announced shortly.

https://youtu.be/EK8ytSnj1tY

Collins recently became the first man in history over the age of 40 to run sub ten seconds in the 100m sprint. He broke his own National Record and the World Masters Record with a blistering 9.93 seconds in Bottrop, Germany . Collins form for the 2016 season suggests that the athlete may very well make Olympic History by being the oldest male sprinter ever in the Olympic 100m Finals. His mere presence at the Rio Olympics is historic in itself as he will be the first male sprinter in history to appear in 5 Olympic games.

Collins recovered from a recent hamstring injury to run a 10.12 secs to win the Birmingham Diamond League

https://youtu.be/8_p6C_OMHHs