Akeem Stewart and Shakera Kirk were named the men's and women's "Athlete of the Year" at the Falcon Club awards function s held at the Carnbee/Mt Pleasant Community Centre in Carnbee on Saturday.
Stewart was his exceptional self at this year's National Association of Athletics Administrations of T&T (NAAATT) National Open Championships, winning the men's shot put event in June. The Paralympic champion awed the crowd at the Hasely Crawford Stadium with his best throw measuring 19.06 metres.
Kirk also was outstanding this season claiming three gold medals at NAAATT events including winning the Girls' Under-17 Discus throw with 34.50m at the National Junior Championships, then reached the top of the podium twice at the National Field Events and Hurdles Championships in the Shot put with 10.88m and Discus (31.48).
Along with being the leading women's athlete this year, Kirk was also named among the "Most Improved" athletes with Anson Moses, Christopher Crawford.
These athletes, as well as the other top performers, were praised by Secretary of the Division of Sport and Youth Affairs of the Tobago House Assembly (THA) Jomo Pitt, the featured speaker at the ceremony, who encouraged them to always have the desire for success.
In his address, he pledged the continued support of his organisation saying: "We will do our part at THA to ensure that the facilities and resources are available to our athletes. We will be partnering with all the clubs as usual as much as we can."
Honour roll
Athlete of the year
Men's: Akeem Stewart
Women's" Shakera Kirk
Most Improved: Shakera Kirk, Anson Moses, Christopher Crawford
Most Disciplined: Clarence Hannibal
Outstanding performances
Akeem Stewart - 1st Men's Open shot put - 19.06m (National Open Championships)
Christopher Crawford - 1st Boys U-20 Shot put - 14.40m; 1st U-20 Discus - 42.24m (National Field Events and Hurdles Championships)
Anson Moses - 1st Boys U-20 Decathlon - 6,078 points - PB (National Junior Championships); 1st 400m hurdles - 57.85 seconds (National Field Events and Hurdles)
Shakera Kirk - 1st Girls' U-17 Discus - 34.50m (National Junior Championships); 1st Shot put - 10.88m; 1st Discus - 1st 31.48 (National Field Events and Hurdles Championships)
Jaidi James - 1st Boys' U-13 Pentathlon - 2,634 points (National Combined Events Championships); 1st High jump - 1.50m PB (National Juvenile Championships)