00:00 With the Rainbow Cup just around the corner, organiser Jason Gooding is pleased with the
00:04 preparations for the June 8th event at Twittle Beach.
00:07 He says having done this for nearly two decades makes it easier.
00:11 In spite of that, it's not easy hosting such an event, but Gooding's love for the sport
00:15 keeps him going.
00:21 For this year we don't have a lot of invited international big names per se, just because
00:28 it's been quite a challenge getting sponsorship and for people to commit or companies to commit
00:35 to the event early enough for me to say this is going to be the cash prizes, this is going
00:41 to be the incentive to come down to Tobago to participate in this event.
00:47 Most of the foreign athletes must have something financially rewarding for them to be able
00:55 to come down here.
00:57 It's quite costly to fly to the Caribbean, it's costly to be in Tobago.
01:02 Gooding says this event is all about promoting healthy lifestyles, with the participants
01:07 and fans getting to interact with one another after the races.
01:10 As such, he's confused as to why no one is coming on board.
01:14 Yeah, sponsorship is always an issue for us.
01:19 I'm not sure why.
01:21 If people would come to the event they'd realise what a fantastic event it is, what a fantastic
01:26 event it is for Tobago, for sports, for the development of sports.
01:31 I've just seen how many new young athletes have gotten involved in the sport of triathlon.
01:40 Because of this event and because of my sister coaching with kids in Dago Martin every Wednesday
01:48 and Thursday, she has 40 to 50 new kids that come out and train with her.
01:53 Looking back at the shock attack which took place in Tobago, Gooding has been in contact
01:57 with the authorities since the event is taking place at Turtle Beach.
02:01 He says measures are being put in place for this year's Rainbow Cup.
02:04 We plan to use our kayakers and our boat men to just keep an eye out on the water.
02:10 We usually have a few boats out there, we usually have the Coast Guard who has offered
02:15 fantastic support in the past for the event.
02:18 I feel very confident that we should have an incident-free event, at least not in the
02:24 water.
02:26 You never know, people still fall when they ride in their bikes.
02:29 But I feel confident that the race will be safe.
02:34 Gooding started another event, Rainbow Cup Grenada, earlier this year.
02:38 Happy with its success, he plans to continue with that as well.
02:41 Vinod Nawani, TV6 Sports.
02:43 [Music]
