While many Brown athletes competed a month ago in the Summer Olympics in Beijing, none held the distinct honor that track and field jumps coach Jerome Romain had: the privilege of being his country's flag-bearer during the Opening Ceremonies.
"It's very humbling (to be chosen)," said Romain, who held Dominica's green flag featuring a parrot for the rest of the world to see. "The day before the ceremonies I found out (I was carrying it). It was a little surprise. I always thought athletes should be the ones carrying it."
As for the flag, it wasn't too heavy, but the heat was rather intense.
"By the time we were going (walking into the stadium), I was pretty much drained in sweat," Romain said.
Romain represented the small Caribbean island nation for the second time, after reaching the final of the triple jump competition at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. This time around, Romain came back as the coach of the Dominica track team, which had two athletes competing in the sprints - one in the 200-meter race and one in the 400.
Although the lighting of the torch was not as breathtaking or as "great an honor" for him this time around as it was when he watched Muhammad Ali back in Atlanta, he said the ceremonies were still amazing to take in. He also got the chance to connect with old friends from 1996, like former 100-meter world recordholder Donovan Bailey and Sunday Bada, who won a silver medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Romain learned of his appointment towards the end of July and oversaw Lloyd and Hurtault's workouts for the weeks leading up to their departure to China. Although neither made it past the first round after each placed one spot out of qualifying in their respective heats, Dominica's track representatives enjoyed being at the track most of the day and sightseeing after practice.
"I would definitely have to say, the organizing committee went all out and really did a great job as far as facilities, accommodations and transportation-it was by far the best I've seen," said Romain of the hosts.
A typical day for the Dominica track team included breakfast at 7 a.m., catching the bus to the stadium and practicing, then coming back to the Olympic Village at noon. Napping and sightseeing ensued on most evenings, although sometimes the team went to watch some of the other events. A particularly special event for Romain was watching the semifinal of the men's soccer tournament between Brazil and Argentina. After growing up playing soccer and idolizing Argentine star Diego Maradona, the Olympics brought a piece of Romain's childhood dreams to life when he turned around at the semifinal and saw Maradona sitting behind him. Tantamount to everything was shaking Kobe Bryant's hand in the Village cafeteria.
Romain brought notoriety not only to Dominica, but to his home university as well.
"I wore my Brown hat pretty much every day," Romain said. "A lot of people know about us and when my team attache found out, he was so excited."
The humidity stood out more than the pollution to Brown's jumps coach, and he felt that only the long-distance races were really affected by the weather.
"Usain Bolt still set records," Romain said. "I think the whole stadium was in shock (after his world-record-breaking 100-meter performance) ... but we do tend to pull for each other (with Caribbean athletes)."
Romain also found that friendship is prized over the competitive edge within the international track circles.
"There's a lot of coaches in my (jumping) events, and we brainstormed and got some new ideas that I will be implementing in my own training," Romain said. "I observed one of the high jumpers from Croatia. She was doing a three-step drill with a bungee cord attached, and it had the athlete stay tall and keep the shoulder away from the turn. The first time I saw it, I got a pen and paper and wrote it down right away."
As for 2012, if he is still involved as Dominica's overseas liaison, Romain said he would consider going to London.
"That's not even close in my mind right now, though," Romain said, as he returns his focus to preparing his jumps squad for another successful run at indoors and outdoors this year.
