TT BADMINTON OFFICIAL AT OLYMPICS

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Well one Trinidad and Tobago native has already booked her spot at the 2024 Olympics in Paris France. Dr. Kamasha Robertson-Martens is set to become the first official to referee at the Olympic level in Badminton. It was a double dose of success for the athlete who was also selected to officiate at the Paralympic Games as well. It's a rare opportunity that has thrilled the former national badminton player who now resides in Belgium.

Transcript

00:00 For many athletes, just being at the Olympics is the mark of approval that

00:04 they've reached a world standard. It's often their final destination after

00:09 years of training. Some go their entire life hoping to reach the big stage.

00:14 Dr. Kamasha Robertson-Martins has attained the world standard as a technical

00:19 official. She related the story about being selected as the first official

00:24 from TNT to officiate in badminton for the upcoming Olympic Games and the

00:29 Paralympic Games in 2024.

00:31 Oh, dream come true doesn't even begin to explain it.

00:36 I think every person when they start a sport, their dream is always like the

00:41 Olympics and that was always a dream for me. Obviously as an athlete first but

00:46 knowing it wasn't possible as an athlete, I've always wanted to do it as a

00:50 technical official and even as a professional in sports. I've always said

00:55 that definitely I would love to make it to the Olympics. So yeah, it is a dream come true.

01:01 She explained that it did not come overnight.

01:04 You know, it's been years. It's really, I have to say, like I said, just even getting involved in badminton

01:11 from as a child, it opened the doorway for this opportunity and then being a

01:17 Pan Am umpire years ago when I started several years ago and then becoming a

01:24 Badminton World Federation umpire. Yeah, so that process has been in me working

01:29 for so many years now. It wasn't just an overnight thing obviously. I really had a

01:34 moment where I was just crying and I even like when my friend called and

01:38 I was just there crying like I can't believe this. You know, I couldn't

01:41 believe it and that day had come and I was excited and then I think for the

01:46 Paralympics they sent the email the next day and so it was more crying. I was like

01:51 two? I can't, like I couldn't believe that I had gotten the second one. So like I

01:56 said, just when that happened it was a moment of just being humble like

02:00 thanking God that I had gotten this opportunity and then it kicked in like

02:04 oh my gosh you're going to the Olympics, you've got to raise your game, you've got

02:08 to make sure that you're ready now and really get prepared. So how does she

02:13 intend to cope with the pressure at the highest level? Making decisions, quick

02:18 decisions on court, those are very difficult. It's high level of competition.

02:23 It can become very stressful. There are stressful moments because it's tough

02:29 competition but you always have to be, you have to maintain your composure. You

02:33 have to always be vigilant. So what's your plan if an athlete challenges you? How do you plan to cope with that at the highest level?

02:40 At the highest level? Well, I remain calm. That's the plan. You take your time, you know

02:45 sometimes I have to take a deep breath, you look at the situation and I mean in

02:49 real life I'm that kind of person anyway. I'm not a person who reacts very quickly

02:54 to things. Robertson-Martins indicated that the officials will not know the

02:59 dates that they would be officiating to prevent controversial situations from

03:03 surfacing. We have very strict rules about posting. We can't post, oh hey I'm

03:08 gonna do my match, I'm gonna be on for the semifinals. We can't post stuff on

03:13 social media and things like that. They have a lot of stringent rules when it

03:18 comes to, as I say, because they have a lot of gambling involved, like legal

03:24 gambling involved with badminton and things like that. So it has to be

03:27 controlled.

03:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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