The Cayman Islands Olympic Committee (CIOC) would like to announce the closing of the Sporting Stars Exhibition, currently at the Cayman Islands National Museum, on Thursday, April 30th. The exhibition, which opened in May of last year, was in part an initiative to preserve and promote local sporting history of which the CIOC covered all expenses.

The CIOC was able to fund this activity through the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Legacy Fund, which is an grant offered by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Olympic Solidarity World Programme. CIOC President Donald McLean was delighted to present the funds to Exhibition Coordinator Wray Banker and said “the CIOC are pleased to have assisted financially in this historic display of our sporting stars at the National Museum. The Olympic parts of the exhibit will remain on permanent display at the CIOC Smith Road Office, due to the assistance of Olympic Solidarity funding from the IOC. Hopefully, this will be the start of preserving our NOC Legacy with the ultimate goal of having an Olympic Museum.”

If you were not able to make it out to the Museum to check out the Sporting Stars Exhibition you will soon be able to enjoy Olympic History on display at the CIOC Office. A few of the items on display will be returned to the generous athletes and officials who allowed for their memories to be shared with us over the past year. The remaining Olympic portions will be reassembled at the CIOC Office permanently, as the CIOC grows its collection.

Mr Banker expressed his satisfaction with the exhibition but admits that they were only able to scratch the surface with Cayman Islands sporting history.   “The ‘Sporting Stars’ Exhibition, was one of the best looking and put together exhibitions I’ve been a part of at the Museum so far. It was very satisfying seeing our sporting history in one place for the first time, and there’s so much more to tell.”

“The exhibition wouldn’t have been possible without Olympic committee’s support, not only with funding but with advice, donation of items and connections. Merta Day and the numerous sporting contributors helped to make this exhibit one of the greatest to date. I look forward to seeing elements from this exhibition on permeant display at the CIOC’s spaces.”

Both the CIOC and the National Museum would like to thank the numerous athletes, officials and volunteers who assisted with this exhibition. The CIOC is determined to continue its efforts to preserve and promote Caymanian sport history and welcome the public to visit the office to learn more about the Cayman Islands sporting history in the near future.