Mayers officially presented Commonwealth Gold Medal

Vincentian sprinter, Natasha Mayers, was officially handed her medal, last Saturday afternoon, for winning the 100m race at the Commonwealth Games in India last October.{{more}}

She was officially handed a gold medal at a ceremony held at Frenches House, staged by the National Olympic Committee, in conjunction with Team Athletics SVG.

Mayers, who was flown in from her California ,USA base, was presented with the medal by President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Jamaican Michael Fennell.

Mayers, 31, became the first Vincentian to cop gold in Track and Field at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, after a string of disqualifications and promotions.

The highlight of her career came on Thursday, October 7, at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Dehli, India, when she crossed the finish line in third position in 11.37 seconds.

But, there was drama to follow, as Australian Sally Pearson, who had finished first, was disqualified for a false start. Osayemi Oludamola of Nigeria, who had been second, was promoted to gold and Mayers to silver.

The final twist came when both of Oludamola’s drug tests’ samples were tested positive and she was stripped, thus landing Mayers gold.

Mayers, gleefully accepting the medal, implored the young athletes present, to work hard at their tasks.

She told the audience that she had to draw on her experiences of struggles while growing up as a child here in Mt. Pleasant, Mesopotamia, to bring to bear on her athletics career.

Mayers left St. Vincent and the Grenadines at age 11 to take up residence in the USA.

At Saturday’s event she was also presented with an undisclosed sum of money from the National Olympic Committee. (RT)