T&T Olympian Ato Boldon Named Sports Illustrated’s Best Television Analyst of 2016

Ato Boldon denies alleged involvement in sex scandal with Australian legislator

ATO BOLDON WAS AWARDED BECAUSE OF HIS INSIGHTFUL AND EDUCATIONAL COMMENTARY DURING THE 2016 OLYMPICS HELD IN BRAZIL.

The successes of retired Trinidad and Tobago track star Ato Boldon have continued off the track.

Boldon, a four-time Olympic medallist and T&T’s most decorated track athlete of all time, has been named as one of the best television analysts of the year by Sports Illustrated.

The 42-year-old former sprinter, who celebrates his birthday on Friday, and NBC’s Roddy Gaines were named joint best television analysts of the year by Sports Illustrated when it announced its best and worst media awards for 2016.

Boldon was awarded because of his insightful and educational commentary during the 2016 Olympics held in Brazil.

According to Sports Illustrated, “Boldon educates track viewers through his preparation, and when you listen to him, you realize how rare it is to have a sports TV analyst make you a smarter viewer. The high point for me was when Boldon tipped Japan for a medal in the 4×100-metre men’s relay prior to that Olympic race.”

“This is a sleeper team,” Boldon had said. “They ran an Asian-record 37.68 in their heat, beating Jamaica, and they pass the baton better than anyone else in this field…Some teams practice for a month or a week. Japan has been practicing for the entire year.”

The Japan team finished second in a new Asian-record time of 37.60 seconds, just 0.33 behind Usain Bolt and his Jamaican teammates.

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ATO BOLDON (LEFT), NOVA PERIS (RIGHT)

Four-time Olympic medallist Ato Boldon says he intends pursuing legal action against an Australian based publication that claimed he was involved in an extra martial affair with that country’s first indigenous Olympic gold medallist.

Northern Territory (NT) News Tuesday published the story claiming that Boldon, 35, who resides in the United States, had the affair with Nova Peris, a government legislator, in 2010 and that she had handpicked him to conduct a 10-day training programme in Australia.

But in a statement posted on his Facebook page, Boldon described the report as a fabrication insisting that Peris “is a former training partner of mine and has been a friend for almost 20 years”.

(CREDIT: FACEBOOK/ATO BOLDON)

He said the training programme in 2010 was for the purpose of holding several youth clinics and that it was a successful undertaking.

“The trip was co-organised by one of my now-deceased colleagues at Athletics Australia. I will be following the senator’s lead, including, but not limited to, pursuing all legal action possible for this malicious misrepresentation of the details surrounding my presence in Australia in 2010,” he said.

Boldon, who won his first international senior-level medal at the 1995 World Championships, said the NT report included “gross fabrications”.

Peris in a statement said “documents provided to the NT News are private. It appears they were not lawfully obtained by a third party. I cannot vouch for the veracity of emails I have not seen.”

But a spokesperson for the NT News said: “We stand by the story which deals with an issue of public importance, namely the alleged misuse of taxpayer funds. The emails, which we are satisfied are 100 per cent legitimate, were volunteered to the NT News by a credible source”.