Olympic Nostalgia, a Snippet from a Badminton Athlete in Trinidad and Tobago

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As a former competitive badminton player, I was glued to the t.v. during this year’s Olympic Games. I enjoyed the badminton, tennis, volleyball, track & field, and swimming. Watching the badminton matches especially, evoked a sense of nostalgia because a lot of the players were in my age group. Some I had competed against in the Pan American (PanAm) Games and regional Caribbean tournaments. If I had continued badminton, I’d like to think that I would’ve reached that stage. The Olympics were what I had aimed for in my training years. But I was still really proud of the Olympic players. I knew them from the PanAm region and the Caribbean so it was nice to see that representation. I had stopped training during the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns in Trinidad and Tobago in 2020-2022. Lockdown started about two weeks before my teammates and I were supposed to compete during a national tournament. It was a big year for us and we were training really hard. But suddenly we heard reports of a coronavirus circulating throughout the world. At that point we didn’t really take it super seriously until it directly affected Trinidad and Tobago. The country went into lockdown which meant that recreational sports and big gatherings were shut down. My teammates and I were all sad about not being able to compete because it was going to be an Olympic year and we were looking forward to competing in tournaments when points would go toward our qualifications.

When the country came out of lockdown, I was knee-deep in university studies and my zeal to return to high intensity training was gone. I was going into my third year of undergraduate study. My club had resumed training. A lot of my teammates were back out. But I didn’t feel particularly motivated to return to training. I hadn’t had the best first year at university and that motivated me to study harder to graduate with honors. So going back to my club was not a thought, even recreationally. In essence, I retired. Currently, I’m doing a Master’s degree in Gender and Development Studies at The University of the West Indies, but my love and passion for the sport has never left. I miss it dearly. And who knows… maybe the court misses me too?

By Ananda Ramsingh

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