Judoka Gabriella Wood was explosive in the first round of women's (+78kg) elimination on Sunday at Sports Center One in the National Sporting Village to reach the quarterfinals but unfortunately did not make it to the next stage at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
She was on fire in her opening match against Bahamas' Sasha Ingraham in which she took the win via an ippon and scored a Waza-Ari, dispatching her opponent 11-0 in their 1/8 Final.
A victory which her coach Mark Littrean spoke highly about, he said, "She performed well and did what she wanted to in terms of getting her grip. It worked well against Bahamian. Against the Cuban (world #1) she was simply outplayed."
In the quarterfinals, Wood challenged against Cuba's Idalys Ortiz hoping to put on another entertaining and tactical fight, however, the top-ranked Cuban, took the win via ippon, countering the local judo athlete's attack.
She then met Izayana Marenco of Nicaragua in the bronze repechage semifinals and went under again by ippon (10-0) ending her time at the Games.
"Against Nicaragua, she dominated the gripping but made the wrong decision when her opponent attacked. It was a simple error that cost her the match. It's a good lesson for her," said Littrean, who added that the local athlete was disappointed but accepted her mistake. "Time for her to move on using this experience to help her on her journey. She has a lot of work to put in between now and World Championship in Tokyo the next two weeks. She's a fast learner and will be exponentially better if she gets at least about 10 moderate to high-level competitions in before May next year," explained her coach.
Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medallist and now two-time Pan Am Games medallist Keston Bledman was named flag bearer for Pan American Games 2019 closing ceremony on Sunday. Sailor Andrew Lewis was the flag-bearer for the opening ceremony two weeks ago.
IN GOLF
Local golfer Ysabelle Lawrence carded a final-round 24-over-par on the par 71 Course having shot 308 over four rounds in the women's competition which ended at the Lima Golf Club on Sunday.
She shot a 69 in the final round on par with silver and bronze medallists, Julieta Granada of Paraguay and Columbian Paula Hurtado, to place 29th after earlier rounds of 80, 80 and 79, respectively.
Both Granada (280) and Hurtado (281) each shot 68 in the medal round to finish second and third, respectively behind gold medallist American Emilia Migliaccio.
IN CYCLING
On Saturday afternoon, T&T had four cyclists including Akil Campbell, Tyler Cole, Jovian Gomez and Kemp Orosco, compete in the Men's Road Race at the San Miguel Circuit but none completed the race.
Coach Gene "Geronimo" Samuel confirmed that all the local cyclists are well after being unable to complete the tough and speedy race
"Everyone was safe. Both Jovian and Kemp just lacked the proper racing for this long event. They only started this race as they had finished their track events, which is what they trained for. Unfortunately, Akil and Tyler came out with just two laps left of 12," said Samuel, who followed in a car with the mechanic, similarly as in the women's race earlier.
He shared that the feeding location was not the most ideal to be done on foot.
"The feeders had to be a bit more aggressive I think, as all other countries, were venturing, into the cycling path. Our cyclists went without fluids for several laps, which eventually depleted their energy and caused them to bunk. Akil and Tyler were still looking pretty strong up until then. I was very pleased with their performance."
Samuel described the race as fast-paced compared to the women's race (5 laps) which saw T&T's Teneil Campbell ride off with silver with a time of 2:19:50. T&T's other cyclist in the 18.5km race, Alexi Costa, was 21st in 2:20:24.
"Unlike the women's race, the men's race was high speed from the start by the cyclist from Guatemala attacking solo and holding a steady pace of around 50kph. The Race never slowed down.
"Disappointed for them," said Samuel, adding that he has not done a post-race briefing.
T&T MEDALS
There were no more medals for T&T on Sunday, the final day of the Games but the red, white and black ended with an impressive and historic 13 medals - two gold, eight silver and three bronze, bettering the haul of 2015 in Toronto, Canada where T&T nabbed eight which comprised - three gold, three silver and two bronze.
GOLD
T&T's two gold medals came in cycling thanks to the likes of Nicholas Paul in the men's sprint and the men's sprint team of Paul, Njisane Phillip and Keron Bramble.
SILVER
Cyclist Teneil Campbell was responsible for two of T&T's eight silver medals in the women's time trial and road race; Phillip, who finished second to Paul in the men's sprint; rower Felice Chow in the women's singles sculls, and in athletics thanks to Michelle-Lee Ahye in the women's 100m, Jereem Richards in the men's 200m, Keshorn Walcott in the men's javelin and the men's 4x100m team, running in the order of Jerod Elcock, Keston Bledman, Akanni Hislop and Kyle Greaux placed second in the medal race.
BRONZE
Michael Alexander won T&T's first medal, a bronze in the men's welterweight (64kg) class; Dylan Carter captured this country's lone medal in swimming, third in the men's 100m backstroke; and on a penultimate night, the 4x400m team of Dwight St Hillaire, Richards, Deon Lendore and Machel Cedenio placed third in the exciting and competitive final.