voice-notation to myself,
for ID-ing the interview,
because his responses
reveal a wit nearly as quick as his feet.
This, I’m very pleased to say, is Richard Thompson, for 21st September-my wife’s birthday, as it happens?
[Two-second pause] Happy birthday, Mrs Pires.
[BC chuckling] Her last name’s actually Castagne; her grandfather wrote the national anthem?
Wow, that’s amazing! Congratulations Ms Castagne.
You were born and raised in Cascade?
That’s right. I’ve been living in Cascade my entire life until I left in December 2004 to go to Louisiana; 19 years. Every time I come back, I come back to Cascade. Sometimes I can afford to stay in a hotel. Being out there in university for four years, I’ve grown accustomed to life on my own. Coming back to my parents’ home is important, too-it just depends on how I feel. I always go back home to visit.
Most of my time is spent in Louisiana because that is where I go to school. I’m in Trinidad approximately three months out of every year, a month for Christmas and two for summer. The rest is spent in Louisiana unless I go to meets abroad but that really doesn’t take up too much time; [pauses] I guess this year it did because I was in Beijing for a full month. I was in Europe for two weeks [before and] after that.
You feel at home there?
Definitely. That’s the place I can call home, apart from Trinidad & Tobago. [chuckles] They love me in Louisiana, especially in the city of Baton Rouge which is where the school is located. I haven’t gotten a chance to speak to any of the media back in Baton Rouge because, at the time I got back, they had Hurricane Gustav, so the place was kind of in a mess.
I was only there for one night. But my prayers are with the people of Baton Rouge right now because I know they had a really rough time from Hurricane Gustav and also from Hurricane Ike.
Your prayers are with them; you have a religious faith then?
Definitely do. I believe there is a superior being, I believe in God. He’s the one who gives me the help, strength and talent to be able to do what I do currently.
Can that belief in God replace self-belief for an athlete?
God has said he helps those who help themselves. You can’t just sit around and say God is going to turn everything around for me. You have to first be assertive, believe in yourself, then put things in place from there. That’s the only way he’s going to help you: you have to take the initiative in life and then God will bless you from there.
Is it that God blesses the bronze medal winner less than you and the gold one more?
He gives accordingly and deservingly to those who deserve what they get. I wouldn’t necessarily say Usain Bolt is more talented than I am or I am more talented than Usain Bolt. What he has done, he’s deserving of it, he’s worked hard for it. I worked hard for what I got as well as Walter Dix with his bronze medal. So it’s kind of hard to say he favours anyone in particular. The way I see it is, he blesses everyone the same and it’s up to the individual to work hard from there.
What primary school did you go to?
I went to Newtown Boys RC School on Maraval Road. I actually went in there [last week] to talk to them. You have to always pay tribute to those who got you to where you are right now and Newtown Boys was very instrumental in helping me build the character I have.
They helped me to understand the importance of balancing an education with sport, as well as Queen’s Royal College and the community I’m from, between Cascade and St Ann’s, they’ve been extremely supportive of me ever since I played football back in the day. I owe most of my stuff to them.
I thank the supporters of Trinidad and Tobago, my close friends, as well as the people who had negative things to say; I take it as positive criticism because without that you’re not able to see your faults and correct them.
St Ann’s/Cascade is a very special place?
Yes it is. We’re a very close community. Not that we try interfering in anyone’s privacy but we know about each other and we have that camaraderie. St Ann’s, Cascade, is like home and we’re all like family. I was a wild, playful child and would go down to President’s Grounds with my brother and people from Foncette Road and the rest of Cascade and we’d play with [local football pro team Superstar] Rangers.
I played with the under-11 team with Gamba. He was the coach. We won the U-11 age group.
You started this medaling early?
[Chuckles] I’m a Superstar Rangers supporter because they practise right there on President’s Grounds.
Which medal was better, the 100m individually or the team one?
Is funny to answer that because the four-by-one was very special because we were able to do it as a team and anyone who knows me knows I’m a team and family oriented person. So to have the other guys share in the glory that I had for the 100 metres was very special.
However, the thing is, most people expected the four-by-one [team] to win a medal, let’s be honest. Coming into the games, we knew we had the potential in the 400m but, as the 100m goes, I don’t think anyone apart from my family and a select few thought I would win a medal.
People were saying, ’He has the potential to get into the final and, if he does, he’ll probably bring up the rear. Be a finalist, not a medallist.’ And for me to actually go in there and accomplish that was a greater feeling than actually winning the four-by-one; but I guess it’s just a screen because they’re both special to me in their own different ways.
People might have been looking at others -Marc Burns, say-to medal?
Well, I had a long season before the Olympic Games began. Because of the amount of races I had run, a lot of people felt I would have been too tired to run well again at the Olympic Games; and I guess, with that, all the attention shifted to Marc Burns and Darrel Brown, especially when Marc beat me in Crystal Palace, London, right before the Games. But my coach and I had a plan and we knew exactly what we were doing. After the senior champs right here in Trinidad, it was a complete month before I had run that next race; that was the race in Europe, in Stockholm and the other one in Crystal Palace -those two races were used to get me sharp again for the Olympic Games.
I didn’t want to keep running and running and then be flat by the time the Olympic Games came around. We knew exactly what we were doing and knew I would run my personal best in Beijing in the final. As an athlete, that’s what we train for: that’s the pinnacle of any athlete’s career, to be an Olympic medallist.
Even a world record holder-I don’t place too much emphasis on that. It’s all well and good to be able to run fast times because you train hard to run fast times but I think, more importantly, you train to win championships and win medals and win titles; that’s more important than anything else to me.
You’re part of a relay team but, in the wider field, teammates are your competition?
When we run as a relay team, we don’t compete against each other. A lot of people in Trinidad and Tobago were talking about the last leg that I ran saying, ’If it wasn’t for you, the team wouldn’t have win a medal’; but everyone went out there and gave of their best.
If they didn’t put me in a position to be able to catch the fella from Japan or Brasil then we would have been completely out of it. It was a group effort and that’s the reason we won a team medal. As far as the individual events go, Darrel, Marc and I have a lot of respect for each other.
As much as we’re good friends, we understand we all win. No one steps into a race to do anything else. We compete against each other but it’s not a bad-mind or jealousy thing if anyone does better. We’re happy for each other after the race. After Beijing, Marc came up to me and shook my hand and said, ’Job well done!’
Was it bittersweet to do so well and run second to Usain Bolt?
I wouldn’t even say it was bittersweet. It was completely sweet for me. Everyone expected Usain Bolt to be champion; after Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell for the silver medal.
I won the silver medal so there is no loss, no harm, nothing negative in that for me. I was extremely proud and completely happy to achieve it.
Your own thoughts on Usain Bolt?
You have a guy who goes into a race, slows up at 75m to 80m-and still wins the gold medal and breaks the world record He deserved every bit of it. I give him his respect because he has earned it.
Who has the better nickname though?
[Laughs heartily] I definitely have the better nickname! [Chuckles] Torpedo, definitely!
