Black Immigrant Daily News

With 10 days until the start of the first World Athletics Championships on U.S. soil (July 15-24), the local organizing committee (LOC) on Tuesday unveiled the medals for the event.

The first medals will be won in the stadium and on the roads on the very first day of competition. On the opening night, Team USA looks to defend its world title in the mixed 4x400m relay, where a world record will likely be needed to take gold.

Medals will be won in 49 event disciplines and on each of the 10 days of competition, with fans able to watch finals in 12 of the 16 in-stadium sessions and in all six of the free road events.

“It was imperative that our medals were true to the unique, unmissable, unconventional nature of the first World Athletics Championships on U.S. soil,” said Niels de Vos, executive director of Oregon22, LLC. “Months of cutting-edge creative thought and experimentation into the latest manufacturing techniques went into the medals, designed and fabricated right here in Oregon. The medals are won by athletes as the result of a lifetime of dedication and commitment. They are the best in the world, and our team wanted to ensure a medal which reflected that status.”

In a first for track and field, instant medals will be awarded to the three medal-winning athletes in the immediate moments after their finals.

Full medal ceremonies with national anthems will still take place, but this additional celebratory component of instant medals is designed for athletes to commemorate their individual victory ‘in the moment’ and to share that moment with family and friends.

By including the medals in the initial emotional aftermath of their medal-winning performance, athletes will be able to experience their triumph more fully, feeling the weight of their accomplishment around their necks right after earning it and proudly displaying their victory during a lap of honour and in post-event media interviews.

At the end of the mixed zone interviews, the medals will be taken back from the athletes for engraving ahead of the official presentation on the podium as scheduled.

The medals depart from the traditional die-cast variety, using instead the ultra-modern and durable material of Corian, which has been subsequently inlaid with the relevant precious metal.

The use of Corian enables the finely detailed carving of intricate relief work featured in the designs – something just not possible using conventional medal techniques.

While traditional in shape and weight, the medals will look very different, even down to the attachment of the ribbon, which uses a bar inserted inside the body of the medal to ensure both longevity and the maintenance of clean design lines.

One side of the medals is inspired by the cross-section of a tree, complete with seven rings to represent the seven regions of Oregon with the logo of WCH Oregon22 at its heart. The tactile experience is completed by the outer edge of each medal, which is textured to feel like tree bark.

The other side features one of seven landscapes that showcase the seven regions of Oregon. These dramatic scenes carry echoes of the marble sculptures and white Art Deco facades of the great public buildings in the United States, including Oregon’s State Capitol. These landscape elements are fundamental to WCH Oregon22’s brand as represented through its Oregon Tapestry. The tapestry is also showcased on the ribbon, juxtaposing a rich colour palette to the immaculate, striking form of the medal.

All seven regions are represented across each colour of medal – so if an athlete wins multiple medals, each one can feature a different Oregon relief. This innovation of making different medals was made for two reasons. First, to infuse each award with a sense of individuality and pricelessness – essentially, to heighten each medal moment with an opportunity for surprise and delight as the athlete discovers the distinct scene represented on their medal. Second, to highlight the beauty of the entirety of the State of Oregon, from its mountains and rivers to its coastline and forests.

“The primary goal that drove the design process was to create something truly innovative and glorious that would be immediately recognizable in years to come as Oregon’s medals,” said Jessica Gabriel, communications director of Oregon22, LLC. “We worked with Oregon-based companies to center the project in this place, and together we challenged ourselves to create works of art that would symbolize the significance of an athlete capturing the glory of a global medal here in the heart and home of track and field in the U.S.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A Kingston man is basking in his winnings after purchasing a Supa Rich Supreme Scratchaz ticket at the Acropolis Gaming Lounge in Barbican, St Andrew, and copping $10 million.

Identified by Supreme Ventures as P Williams, a release from the company said he has been consistently purchasing Supreme Scratchaz tickets since its launch earlier this year.

Williams said he was in shock when his ticket turned out to have the grand prize.

“I’m always buying Scratchaz tickets and have won up to $10,000 on one ticket before. I bought the Supa Rich for the first time to try my luck as it’s a new game. When I scratched this ticket and saw the amount that I won; I was trembling! I didn’t know how to react,” he shared.

Admitting that he is still in disbelief, Williams said he hasn’t “really made any plans” for the money yet.

“The only thing I’m sure of is that I’ll be treating my mom and getting her something extra special for her birthday, and I’ll definitely be investing some of it,” said an overjoyed Williams.

Xesus Johnston, CEO of Prime Sports, a subsidiary of Supreme Ventures, was thrilled at the news of yet another Supreme Scratchaz millionaire.

“Since we launched Supreme Scratchaz in March, our players have won over $2 billion in prizes. We continue to innovate and introduce more new and exciting games to allow them even more options to change their lives in an instant.

“Supa Rich is our newest game with the biggest top prize of $10 million, and we’re especially thrilled to have our first jackpot winner. It highlights that with Supreme Scratchaz, players do win nuff, win often and win right away,” he said. “They can look forward to even more winnings with Supa Rich as there are even more $10-million tickets to be won.”

Supreme Ventures said customers currently have a selection of 11 different instant win scratch games ranging from J$100 – J$1,000 per card and have the chance to win up to J$10 million instantly.

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Port of Spain General hospital

The 16-year-old boy who was hospitalised after being shot by police last Saturday was discharged from hospital on Tuesday.

Police said the teen was shot in the hand and grazed on the chest when officers of the Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB) shot at a car he was in.

He and two others, both released from police custody, survived an alleged shootout with police after a car chase from Diego Martin ended when the car crashed into Republic Bank, Independence Square. Three died in the incident. Those killed were identified as Fabien Richards, 21, Leonardo Niko Williams and Isaiah Roberts, both 17.

On Monday, protesters burned tyres and other debris to block off the east- and west-bound lanes of the Beetham Highway demanding justice for the three killed by police.

Hours after Monday’s protest, one of two of the survivors who was arrested was released without charge. The second was released a day later.

Both police and the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) are investigating the incident with the PCA calling on anyone with information to come forward.

As part of the police investigation, four GEB officers were placed on clerical duties.

Acting Police Commissioner Mc Donald Jacob at a media conference on Monday said police have video footage of what happened and will not be releasing it since that forms part of the police investigation.

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A 78-year-old Tobago man who was sentenced to 18 months in prison for allegedly being part of a lynch mob and who, along with two other men tied up a suspected arsonist, will not face a new trial.

On Wednesday, Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon and Vasheist Kokaram allowed the appeal of Carlston Lyne and agreed there will not be a new trial.

There were two other men convicted with him for the April 9, 2008, offence of malicious wounding, but one of them is currently in a coma while the other has since died, the judges were told.

At the appeal, Lyne’s attorney John Heath argued the magistrate wrongly exercised her discretion by refusing to grant an adjournment sought by defence counsel to call a witness – a police officer who allegedly gave Lyne the go-ahead to “bring in” the suspected arsonist – and time to prepare a closing address.

Heath said the magistrate limited herself to certain parameters in deciding not to grant the adjournment to give the defence time to bring its witness.

He pointed to the magistrate’s reasons that a matter can only be adjourned if the court needed to read the notes (of evidence) or check a point of law. Heath said if those were the parameters of the magistrate, the exercise of discretion was not done judicially.

“That shows an inflexibility.”

He also argued Lyne was robbed of a fair opportunity to be properly heard by the magistrate not granting an adjournment for him to “marshal the evidence and provide legal authorities” in a closing statement.

The State, represented by assistant DPP Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal, did not resist the appeal, agreeing that the intended defence witness was an important one for the defence.

She urged the judges to consider where the trial was at that point after all three men gave evidence.

“Progress had been made in the matter… The (trial) time was not spent badly, and granting the adjournment would not be improper.”

She also said the witness the defence wanted to call, as a police officer, would have had to get permission to attend court and would have needed the authorisation to bring with him a certain book; presumably a station or pocket diary.

Dougdeen-Jaglal agreed that the denial to grant the requests for an adjournment was unreasonable.

In their ruling, Soo Hon said of the five grounds of appeal filed by Lyne, the first ground of the refusal to grant the adjournment being detrimental to a fair hearing, concerned them the most.

She pointed out that while the matter had come up for hearing 13 times and had been fixed for trial for five of those occasions within a year, it was “somewhat unfair” of the magistrate to deny Lyne the opportunity to get a summons for his witnesses while criticising him for not having the kind of evidence the police officer could have given.

“Taking all the factors into account the magistrate also said she would adjourn the matter to properly study the case but denied counsel the opportunity to properly prepare an address when the evidence closed.

“He may not have had a fair trial.”

Emphasising that trial attorneys must be better prepared, Soo Hon said the court felt constrained and also took into account that both Lyne and the State argued the same points, “agreeing with each other.”

It was alleged that Lyne and the two other men were part of a “lynch mob” and in a setting of “vigilante” justice tied up a man to take him to the police station in Roxborough.

It was the men’s defence that they were displaying community spirit by helping the police apprehend the suspected arsonist who was also said to be “mentally disturbed” and had been terrorising the village.

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