Olympic gold medal sprinter Jerome Blake was a special guest at Kelowna council on Monday (Sept. 23).
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Blake is the first of three Kelowna 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香蕉视频直播檚 4x100 gold medal win at the Paris Games was shown at Monday香蕉视频直播檚 meeting.
香蕉视频直播淢any of us watched that Friday morning race in great anticipation,香蕉视频直播� 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.
香蕉视频直播淲e knew what the goal was because we felt we had the team in Tokyo香蕉视频直播nd we came away with a silver and we still weren香蕉视频直播檛 very happy. We knew what we needed to do this time around.香蕉视频直播�
Blake told council he would like to see a world-class training facility established in Kelowna to encourage young and upcoming athletes.
香蕉视频直播淭here is a lot of talent in the Okanagan香蕉视频直播here are other kids coming up behind me, seeing what I香蕉视频直播檝e done and they believe they can do the same thing as well. Having a high-performance facility will keep athletes here香蕉视频直播hey香蕉视频直播檒l work hard and achieve their goals.香蕉视频直播�
Referring to his future goals, Blake said the Canadian 100-metre record is on 香蕉视频直播渂orrowed time香蕉视频直播� adding that he is focusing on making the team for next year香蕉视频直播檚 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 Kelowna from Jamaica in 2013.
