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"The opposite of a simple truth is falsehood, the opposite of deep truth is another deep truth". During the recently concluded Rio 2016 Olympic Games social media was awash with comments about the athletes not trying hard enough and "we don't have the passion like the Jamaicans". This simple "truth" is a falsehood. The deep truth is we did not do as well as a nation as WE would have expected. The opposite of deep truth is another deep truth, and that truth is, we athletes face a genuine struggle to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the highest levels year after year. I begin my essay here with a quote from Danish physicist and 1922 Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr, because he was a deep thinker, and to get Trinidad and Tobago's sports out of the quagmire in which we currently sit, we need deep thought and profound action. We need to go forward as a collective unit; athletes, coaches, support staff, administrators, media, corporate Trinidad and Tobago and the general public. I know by now you must be thinking, who does guy think he is, to be talking the way he is, after all, he never even went to the Olympics! Well hold your horses there, I intend to introduce myself and my athletic history throughout the course of this essay, to give you an inside view of the struggle many Trinidad and Tobago sportsmen and women face on a daily basis. To quote one of my favourite songs from Scottish singer, Emeli Sande, Read All About It, "If no one ever hears it how are we gonna learn your song.........Its about time we got some airplay about OUR version of events". Jamaal James en-route to winning a gold medal for T&T @the 2004 CAC Junior Championships in Vera Cruz Mexico in the U-17 boys 800m Run My name is Jamaal James, a 28 year old, 800m runner from Trincity, Trinidad and Tobago. I made my first national team in 2002 at the CUT Games staged right here in Trinidad and Tobago winning triple gold in the 800m, 1500m and medley relay as a 13 year old. My most recent international medal was earned in 2015, at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships (NACAC), in San Jose Costa Rica, an 800m bronze. In the intervening years I became a 2x Carifta 800m Champion in 2003 and 2006 (u-17, u-20) respectively, 1x Carifta 4x400m Champion 2004 (u-17), 1x Carifta Silver medalist 800m 2004. At the 2004 Carifta Games in Bermuda I got a first hand view of Usain Bolt's extraordinary World Junior 200m record of 19.93. I literally ran away from the warm up area to witness history. About an hour later I would anchor T&T to 4x400m Gold.Teaming up with Akil Farrell Jones, Maurice De Leon and Kervin Morgan. I remember leaving these games almost depressed because I was unable retain my 800m u-17 title, won in 2003 as I lost to my fierce Jamaican competitor, Theon O'Connor. I left those games with silver and gold was yet still devastated, which should illustrate the type of passion all athletes have when representing their countries. I remember seeing O'Connor at a track meet in 2012 and we greeted each other like long lost friends. I first raced against him as a 13 year old at the CUT games and he is now the holder of undergraduate and masters degrees from Georgetown University. At the 2005 Carifta Games in Tobago I was one of the favorites to win gold in front of the home crowd and with 300m to go in the race my feet got tangled with my Jamaican competitor, Davian Parker, and we both fell flat on our faces. I got up to finish the race, because I am a firm believer in finishing whatever I start, only for one of the local media houses to report Jamaal James finished a disappointing 7th without any mention of the fall! I picked myself up and went onto record what is still the 2nd most memorable accomplishment of my entire career. I went to the IAAF World Youth (u-18) Championships in Morocco and placed 5th.  I know many of you may be thinking that 5th isn't all that impressive but remember we are talking about a GLOBAL 800m final. I ran three  personal best times in a 4 day span in the heats, semis and finals. I was the only athlete from the entire Western Hemisphere in the final. The 800m is an event typically dominated by the African and European nations and recently the United States has become a force in the event. In this final there were 2 Kenyans, a Botswanaian, an Algerian, a South African, a German, an Aussie, Nick Toohey, who is still a friend and myself the lone finalist from the Americas. Just to even get selected for the World Youth championship team was a struggle. The same type I referred to in my opening paragraph. The NAAA, the local governing body, did not select me even though I surpassed the qualification standard of 1min :59secs  set by the IAAF! The NAAA's rationale was that there were African athletes running 1min :44 secs, mind you this was by one athlete with a questionable age (the World Youth u-18 Championships are for youth athletes). So the team was picked after our local Junior Championships which I won in 1:55 and to my horror and surprise I was left off the National Team! I went home and cried like a baby in my mother's arms. My coach at the time, Trevor James, launched an appeal to try to get me selected and the response was an emphatic no! At the National Senior Championships, a week later, I chased after our national record holder, Sherridan Kirk, and ran a personal best of 1:51 and only then did the association consider selecting me! So lets get this straight I was EIGHT seconds under the qualification standard and they still had to "consider" it because, again, their rationale was there were African athletes running 1:44. Well lo and behold I was finally picked and took a creditable 5th place in the Finals and upon my return from these championships the same officials were there to shake my hand and tell me I made the country proud, ironic. Jamaal James sporting his NACAC 2015 bronze medal and displaying his more than 10 international medals won for T&T and some of the American NCAA ALL American Trophies achieved at LSU. During an interview with the Trinidad Express in October 2015 at Expresshouse (Courtesy Trinidad Express Newspapers) Whilst all this action was going on in 2005 I had the "small" matter of the CXC examinations! Well I went onto to pass all 8 subjects. Thanks to the great support of my family and great education from my teachers at Trinity College, Moka, I also did mathematics lessons with Mr. Sookhan in Tunapuna. Sport teaches the ability to multitask I always urge parents not to stop their children from sports because they have to study. My experience is an illustration that it could be done. When such children grow into adults they cannot tell their bosses 'sorry I can't come to work because I have a lot of stuff going on in my life'. The earlier we instill in our youth the ability to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously, the better for our nation. Some of my other accomplishments include being a 2xCAC Junior Champion at 800m in 2004 and 2006 u-17, u-20 respectively. In 2006 I also made the final of the CAC Senior Championships in Cartagena Colombia as a 17 year old placing 6th. Later that summer I would also become a World Junior Semifinalist in Beijing. Jamaal James competing for LSU in the preliminary round of the 800m run @ the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville Arkansas I flew straight from China to meet my mother in States to begin the next chapter of my life enrolling at Louisiana State University (LSU) on a full athletic scholarship in August 2006. Family support is crucial in any walk of life but I think in sports even more so because after every event there has to be a winner and a loser and after victories you need your family to keep you grounded and after defeats they are always there to lift morale. At LSU I felt right at home because of the strong Caribbean flavor at the school. Richard Thompson was just beginning his junior/3rd year. When I arrived on campus he took me under his wing like a little brother and showed me the ropes, and for that I would be forever grateful. Monique Thompson nee Cabral and Kelly Ann Baptiste made this bedding-in process a lot easier. Also having a coach from the Caribbean in Mark Elliott, a former Jamaican athlete and Guyanese 800m track athlete, Marian Burnett made my transition an easy one. I hit the ground running at LSU I won the South Eastern Conference (SEC) indoor and outdoor 800m titles as a freshman in 2007 and in the latter I broke the Trinidad and Tobago National Junior 800m record that stood for 33 years with a time of 1:47.00.  A couple people in the local track fraternity told me that they thought that record from Horace Tuitt would never be broken. That accomplishment to this day is still my proudest achievement in Track and Field. In 2007 I won All American honors (top 8 in the NCAA) in the indoor 800m. I was also selected to the SEC freshman Academic Honor roll and made the LSU Athletic Director's Cup list  for academic excellence. Thus, contrary to some beliefs, academics and athletics can be mixed. Jamaal James was selected The South Eastern Conference Freshman All Academic Honor Roll an award given for outstanding Academic Achievement whilst competing on the US Collegiate Circuit In June that year I would return home to clinch the first of 5 senior Trinidad and Tobago 800m titles, I also picked up a silver medal at the Pan American Junior Championships in Sao Palo Brazil.  In 2008 I placed 2nd both indoor and outdoor at the SEC championships in the 800m, whilst also being a member of LSU's indoor All American Distance Medley Relay (DMR) record breaking team! I had a fantastic time at LSU closing out my career with and indoor 800m All American Honor in 2010. What I learned most from the coaches at LSU was that for success to happen attention must be paid to even the finest details. Before we actually left campus for a track meet, Head Coach Dennis Shaver would set the tone by going over the objectives for the meet. During the meet we would again have meetings with our individual coaches and after the meet we would often-times have a team meeting right on the track. The coaches there literally left nothing to chance, we would receive an itinerary that detailed everything from the time the bus was leaving campus to the time of your race and the time we would arrive back into Baton Rouge. I graduated with a BSc. Degree in Communications studies in December 2010. I really had some excellent professors, made lots of friends from all over the world including a Danish roommate, Laust, who was a swimmer, I hope he gets to read this and saw that I quoted his countryman in my opening line! Jamaal James and Richard Thompson during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow Scotland. In 2012 I barley missed out on qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games, the qualification standard  was 1:46.30 and I ran a time of 1:46.88. I ran this time under the tutelage of renowned American Distance Coach Frank 'Gags' Gagliano. He took me into the fold of his awesome New York New Jersey Track Club and we had some fun times indeed. In 2013 I ran 1:46.57 to move up to #3 on the ALL TIME Trinidad and Tobago 800m list only behind  national record holder Sheridan Kirk and Mike Solomon, the father of our 2012 4x400m Olympic medalist Jarrin Solomon. Whilst 1:46 is definitely NOT a world beating time, it is very good. I am going to give you an illustration of how pro track people, based on my 16 years in the sport, view what is internationally acceptable in the senior mens 800m. 1:50.00 - BANG Average  1:49.00- Respectable 1:48.00- Above Average 1:47.00-Good 1:46.00-Very Good 1:45.00-Execptional 1:44- WORLD CLASS 1:43 and faster- BONA FIDE WORLD CLASS, Olympic Medalist, World Champs Medalist Jamaal James with some of his New Jersey New York Track Club teammates and Coach Frank "Gags" Gagliano,a legend of the sport, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts So in 2012 and 2013 I was knocking on the door of World Class as a 23/24 year old. I decided to seek guidance from a high ranking official about ways in which we can take my career to the next level. He proceeded to list all the reasons why he could not help me because of how much his hands were tied. He then even went further to tell me maybe I should quit athletics and look into getting a job and "that sometimes we have to know when to stop"! I cite this exchange not to engage in character assassination, because I am all for nation building, but to illustrate what we as athletes are up against. I took it on the chin and soldiered on. After a coaching switch because I wanted to be at home closer to my family I went onto claim T&T's first senior international in men's 800m, since 2009,  last year at the NACAC Championships in 2015. Jamaal James Competing for T&T in San Jose Costa Rica at North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships (NACAC) in Athletics 2015 (Photo Courtesy Paul Voisin) This year I ultimately failed in my quest to qualify for the 800m in Rio my best time in the Qualification period being 1:47.07 from that NACAC final. In the years between 2013 and 2016 not once did any official from all our sporting administrations, barring only one, who was extremely helpful, ever offer to ascertain what was necessary to take my career to the next level. I'm not speaking only about finances such as the Elite Athlete Funding (which is most times late) of which I have been a recipient over the years. To build a champion we need so much more than just handing out cheques to athletes and hoping for the best! I am talking about genuine consultation about what is needed. Another thing said to me was I need to show more potential! If the above paragraphs are not an illustration of potential I don't know what is. I continue to soldier on because I love Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean I want to put us on the map in the 800m just like Keshorn Walcott did in the Javelin. I'm not doing it for money because I have had many job opportunities, I do it because I am a Passionate Patriot! My story mirrors that of many of our local sportsmen so the next time you hear someone say the athletes have no passion you would be able to politely inform them of the struggles most of us have to endure just to put on the red white and black! That is the deep truth my friends. Jamaal James after winning 800m bronze at the 2015 North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics in San Jose Costa Rica. (Photo Courtesy Paul Voisin)