MEMBERS OF THE Hercules family are elated for the continued recognition of Team Athletics SVG to name its National Open Championships after the late Wendell Hercules.

The partnership between the Hercules family and Team Athletics SVG, began in 2019 with the staging of the then National Club Championships at the Arnos Vale Playing Field.

When the 2022 National Open Championships were hosted at the Sir Vincent Beache Stadium at Diamond on May 7 and 8, 2022, Hercules’ widow and two daughters, Nicole and Michelle flew to St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) for the occasion.

Expressing appreciation for the continued recognition, Nicole told SEARCHLIGHT: “It is always an honour to come back to St Vincent and the Grenadines and we know that daddy would have been very proud and it is our privilege to be part of this…We take great pride coming back to St Vincent and the Grenadines, the island where our father ran a successful track career and went on to the United States and continued at the University of Idaho”.

Like Nicole, Michelle expressed joy at the developing trends of track and field, especially the coming on stream of the synthetic track.

“We are happy to see the development of track and field since there is a track which is indeed a boost to the sport, and I can see there is so much potential in St Vincent and the Grenadines”, Michelle highlighted.

She noted that as part of their father’s legacy, they are continuing with the assistance programme for student- athletes going off to study.

Wendell Hercules, who also went by the moniker“ Steel Donkey”, attended the St Vincent Grammar School and the St Martin’s Secondary School.

As a middle -distance athlete, apart from his successes at the schools’ level, the late Hercules established himself as a force at the Windward Islands Schools Games in the late 1960s. He also competed at the Southern Games in Trinidad and Tobago, along with championships held in Guyana and Grenada.

An 800m and mile specialist, Hercules attained a scholarship in 1972 to attend the University of Idaho, where he studied civil engineering.

His love for track and field did not interfere with his professional endeavours, and even in his latter years, Hercules was heavily involved in participating and organizing 5K and 10K races.

Hercules died February, 5, 2017, in his adopted home, the USA.