Reporter
kristy.ramnarine@cnc3.co.tt
Lovie Santana-Duke’s mantra is: “Put God first.”
It guides and inspires the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) senior administration officer who is serving as chef de mission for the July 26–August 11 Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a position she’s held before but one she never anticipated she would achieve at the beginning of her career.
“I do not come from a sporting background. I started working at Caribbean Games 2009 and from there I branched over into the TTOC as an executive assistant to the president,” Santana-Duke revealed.
“Then I was promoted to senior administrative officer. The first games I attended was the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, as an admin support.”
As the saying goes, the rest is history. Santana-Duke kept reaching for the stars, gaining a wealth of experience with T&T contingents at various games.
She was appointed chef de mission for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia, as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She was also appointed sister chef de mission for the Rio 2006 Olympics, then Chef de Mission for Tokyo 2020, which was held in 2021 due to COVID-19, followed by the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
“I embrace it, I love it and it is a joy to serve with the Olympic committee,” she said.
“For me, what captured me is standing in a stadium and hearing your anthem play; there is no word to describe that feeling. The pride, the joy, the excitement that more or less motivated me to give my all to games and games operation on the whole.”
Santana-Duke credits former TTOC President Brian Lewis and Secretary General Annette Knott for shaping her journey.
“They and our president Diane Henderson are a major support to where I am now in terms of the growth, the capacity building and the experience,” she said
The 2024 Paris Olympics officially opened on Friday and Santana-Duke is providing leadership for the national delegation of athletes and officials in the French capital.
She explained: “When you are appointed chef de mission you are literally in charge of the entire delegation, you are on call 24/7. The process does not start with your selection. There is a process that takes place before the selection of the chef within the organisation before it is made public. The work actually starts about two years before the games. There is a lot of activity involved.
“You have to ensure that your athletes are in a frame of mind to compete at the highest level. You literally cater to their entire need when it comes to game time.
“Apart from being chef I also have my responsibility as an employee of the TTOC.”
While in Paris, Santana-Duke will be away from her very close-knit family.
“Usually when I return from a game I try to take two to three days, if available, with my family, just to have that time with my family because I am a very family-oriented person. You can only imagine how being away for so long, how that would be,” she said
After the downtime, it’s back into the stream of things as the TTOC has a very packed calendar of events.
“Aside from the Olympics there are different games,” Santana-Duke said.
“Whether I am chef or not, I am one of the people who works on games management. I do all the preparation prior to the games, whether I am going or not. We have a quadrennial that is full of games and the day-to-day running of the TTOC.”
Santana-Duke believes her accomplishments would not have been possible without her faith in God.
“Anything that my hands are involved with, or anything I have a part to play in, there is always a silent prayer,” she said.
“I am very much high on having that peace of mind and ensuring that I put God in the centre of it all.”
Ten men and seven women are representing Trinidad and Tobago in three sports, athletics, cycling, and swimming at the Paris Olympics.
