Brian George, president and chief executive officer of Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) is a parent brimming with pride.

The joy and satisfaction was evident in his tone, as he hailed the accomplishment of son Christopher George. The sacrifice of Christopher to realise his dream of reaching the Olympic Games since 1994 was also a challenge for his father, who watched with anguish as his son toiled through the hard times.

But, the dream became a reality recently when Christopher became Trinidad and Tobago’s first athlete to qualify for an Olympic Games in judo, after he placed seventh at the Pan American Championships in Cuba.

“I think he represents what the Olympic spirit is about; he represents somebody who has been willing to make tremendous sacrifices. He gave up his job as an engineer to focus on travelling to Kazakhstan, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba and North America to train and compete, just to be able to fulfil this dream. So, as a parent, to see your son making the sacrifice, you can only feel proud,” the senior George told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

The culmination of the long-standing dream was harboured by the 32-year-old since he became a national swimmer and then a national water polo player, before he officially retired in 2012 to take up judo.

Christopher’s persistence to continue his pursuit of glory after failing at swimming brought even more joy to his father, who is an avid lover and follower of sports.

“I am even more proud of the fact that he has not let obstacles get in his way, he has been pursuing this dream since 1994, but he did not make it and when one door shut, he opened another door,” said Brian.

He continued: “Water polo is a team sport and it is a lot more difficult to put a team together to represent at the Olympics. So, as an individual sport it takes a lot of lonely training that people won’t understand, because you have to be driven internally.

“He didn’t have a teammate to take him on, so it is a lot of lonely training and he represents that kind of tenacity and that kind of focus which is something that I hope will be in good stead for him for the rest of his life.”

Father Brian said the substantial support for Christopher coming from Jamaicans, in particular, has left him optimistic.

“All I can say is that it just shows you that when it comes time, we all rise above the politics because I get as many compliments from Jamaicans as I do from Trinidadians, and it shows that at the end of the day, we support each other. So, we hope this is an example where we find more in common than we find that is dividing us,” the elder George ended.