Jehue Gordon lost his three-year unbeaten record on home soil when he was upset in the men's open 400 metre hurdles final on the opening day of the Tobago Falcon Games at Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, yesterday. The 2010 World Junior champion had to settle for second behind Eric Alejandro of Puerto Rico, who won in 50.79 with Gordon behind in 51.13 and Barbadian Kion Joseph taking bronze in 52.79. Gordon was going for his fourth straight Falcons Games triumph and started quickly in lane four. The Memphis athlete stayed close to Alejandro and came into the home stretch two metres ahead of the Puerto Rican but Alejandro got past Gordon just after the final hurdle to win and avenge his loss in last year's edition.
Kernesha Spann (Neon Trackers) took the women's equivalent in 58.61. The 2011 Carifta girls U-20 bronze medallist set a new personal best to beat clubmate Ramona Modeste (59.31). Antonia Attale of Cougars landed the girls U-17 400m hurdles in 1:08:15 while Tauren George (Point Fortin New Jets) captured the boys U-17 event. Dejonne Fisher and Jorvan Westfield were crowned the first champions of the day. Fisher sped to victory in the girls U-9 60m finals in 10.02. Competing in the third of three sections the Air Bon Sonics sprinter was first to line ahead of Gabrielle Alexis (Burnley) 10.10 and section one winner Renisha Mc Eachnie (Concorde) 10.10. Westfield blazed to gold in the boys U-9 60m dash in 9.38 beating Keone John (Memphis), 9.44 and another Cougars sprinter Isaiah Gemon (9.60). Recently crowned World Indoor 4X400m bronze medallist, Jereem Richards (Quantum), topped the boys' U-20 200m heats in 21.03 (+3.1). Next quickest were Asa Guevera (Abilene Wildcats) 21.66, Darvin Sandy (Alpha) 21.74.
Among the men, Abiola Glasgow (Defence Force) was the fastest in 21.88 with Stephwan Solomon (Rebirth) 22.03 with Kamaria Durant (Simplex) best among the women in 23.96. Luan Gabriel of Dominica, 24.29 and Onika Murray (Quantum) 24.33, were next fastest. Carifta representatives dominated the boys U-17 200m with 4X400 selectee Nathan Farinha (Abilene Wildcats) topping the preliminaries in 22.15 from the Zenith duo of Nicholas Douglas, 22.19 and Ron Wright, 22.53. Astrid Casimire (Memphis) led the qualifiers in the girls U-17 200 in 25.46 while the New Jets pair of Terry Fredrick, 23.70 and Kashief King, 23.91, were second and third, respectively. Today the action gets underway at 9.30 am with the continuation of the boys and girls Pentathlon (under 13) and Heptathlon (under 15). This year's Falcons Games were shifted to the Hasely Crawford Stadium for the first time in the eleven year history of the games because of the unsuitable condition of the Dwight Yorke Stadium track. Some 900 athletes from 46 local clubs and 11 countries are participating.