IT IS GOING to cost Barbados $1 million to send a contingent to the 16th Pan Am Games slated for Mexico in October.
President of the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA), Steve Stoute, told WEEKEND SPORT that the bulk of the cost would come from sending men’s and women’s field hockey teams to the multi-sport event.
The hockey teams qualified having won medals at last year’s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Puerto Rico.
Stoute said the organising committee was giving Barbados a travel subsidy which was for individuals who qualify, that would help with the overall costs.
Last year, the BOA spent $1.2 million in funding for the CAC Games, at which Barbados won three gold, two silver and five bronze medals – 11th overall in the tables.
A further $800 000 was spent for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, but Barbados left India without a medal.
Stoute reiterated that they will revisit the selection criteria.
“Most certainly for Pan Am, we will be a lot more conservative in our selection based on the prevailing performances,” he said.
World-class hurdler Ryan Brathwaite and ace swimmer Bradley Ally are the only Barbadians that have a semblance of a chance of winning a medal in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
It will be the largest multi-sport event of the year, with about 6,000 athletes from 42 nations expected to participate in 36 sports.
