Trinidad and Tobago ended the first day of the 2024 Carifta Games with five medals after the 51st edition of the regional competition began at the Kirani James Athletics Stadium, St George’s, Grenada on Saturday.
After a slow start to the competition’s opening day, under-17 boys’ long jumper Tyrique Vincent, under-17 boys’ 100m sprinter Kadeem Chinapoo, and under-20 girls’ triple jumper Keneisha Shelbourne led a late surge.
Kadeem Chinapoo won silver in the boys’ under-17 final, dipping at the line in 10.59 seconds. Gold went to Jamaica’s Nyron Wade in 10.43 and the bronze medal was won by another Jamaica, Malike Nugent in 10.74 seconds. T&T’s second athlete in that final was Cameron Nathaniel Powell, placing 5th in 10.87.
Earlier Chinapoo won his preliminary heat in 10.96 seconds to secure one of two automatic spots in the final. In second was Everette Fraser of the Bahamas in 11.06 while third-placed Ramir Dewindt Lake from Curacao copped one non-automatic qualifier’s spot in the final.
Nathaniel-Powell earlier placed second in heat one of three in 10.90 seconds.
In the girls’ under-17 final, T&T’s only representative Tianna Richardson placed 8th in 12.41 seconds.
Vincent’s first attempt in the boy’s under-17 long jump of 7.00 metres placed him in good stead.
Those three medals supplemented the earlier efforts of Keneisha Shelbourne in the under-20 girls’ triple jump, Tenique Vincent in the girls’ under-17 high jump and Peyton Winter in the girls’ under-17 shot put who initially put T&T onto the medal standings.
Shelbourne, an under-20 high jump bronze medallist in 2023, in Nassau Bahamas has reaped immediate reward after switching her focus to the long jump for this year’s games in Grenada by delivering the country’s first silver medal.
Her second-round jump measured 12.49 metres, bumping her into second position early on and she never relinquished that position. The event’s eventual gold medalist, Jamaica’s Richelle Stanley opened her competition with a 12.58m leap which none of the other athletes in the field bettered. Bronze went to another Jamaican, Dejanae Bruce with 12.20m.
T&T’s 2024 medal count began soon after the start of the morning session of day one, with two medals being won.
The first to mount the medal rostrum was under-17 shot putter Winter, repeating her silver-medal performance from the 2023 games in Nassau Bahamas. Winter came into the girls’ under-17 shot put event seeded second amongst the field of eight athletes, with a mark of 13.82 metres. The Bahamas’ Terrell McCoy (14.48m) was the top seed, and Jamaica’s Jamelia Young (13.33m) was third.
Winter set the tone in the competition with a 13.15m opening throw to lead the field from rounds one to three. However in the fourth round, the eventual winner, Young took the lead with a 14.25m effort that would not be beaten. Winter responded with 14.14 metres in the fourth round and improved to her eventual second-placed mark of 14.21m in the fifth round, closing the competition with a final distance of 13.22m. Young of the Bahamas placed third in the event with the best throw of 14.11 metres produced on her penultimate attempt.
On the track, Concorde Athletics Club multi-discipline athlete Vincent placed third in the girls’ under-17 high jump. Vincent passed on the first two heights in the event (1.45m and 1.50m), opting to open at a height of 1.55 metres. She then cleared that height in her first attempt, repeating the feat at 1.60m and 1.65m. With the bar set at a height of 1.68m, Vincent needed two attempts to clear but failed all three attempts at 1.71m, settling for the bronze medal.
The event was won by Zavien Bernard who cleared the 1.71m mark on her first attempt while Bahamian Alexandria Komolafe needed two tries to clear the same height finishing in second position, before both athletes failed to top 1.74m.
The region’s top heptathletes opened this year’s games with the 100m hurdles and T&T’s 2023 silver medallist Gianna Paul was all smiles after cruising to victory in 14.60 seconds to earn 895 points in the opening discipline of her scheduled seven. Second was Clementine Carias from Guadeloupe in 15.68 seconds and Aaliyah Evans from the Bahamas in 15.93. T&T’s other athlete in the event, Kaori Robley placed 4th in 16.21 seconds.
However, by the day’s four events, Paul left the venue in tears.
Looking to maintain her lead in the first event of the afternoon session and third overall, Paul secured third place in the shot put with a throw of 9.48m, adding 495 points to her morning’s total of 1774. The event was topped by Kimeka Smith of Jamaica throwing 13.37m while Carias threw 11.03 m while Paul’s compatriot Kaori Robley’s 6.51 metres was good enough for 6th.
However, disaster struck in the next event when Paul pulled up with an injury with about 60 metres to go in the day’s closing event, the 200m dash. She was able to finish the event in 31.64 seconds, picking up 374 more points but sobbed heavily as attendants offered her a wheelchair near the finish line. Robley won the race in 25.13 seconds while Smith of Jamaica clocked 25.69 in the second and Evans of the Bahamas was third in 26.36 seconds.
When asked whether she thought she would be able to complete her three remaining disciplines in the event, Paul said, “I am going to finish”
Limping away with the assistance of team doctor Dr. Anyl Gopeesingh, Paul sobbed even more heavily while shaking her head in obvious disbelief and distress.
Earlier, the two-time NACAC under-18 champion built on her morning session lead by bettering her previous personal best in the high jump no fewer than three times. Her previous mark of 1.65 was set in 2020 and speaking to Guardian Media Sports after the session, she admitted that she had struggled to beat that mark before today.
However, with all other events in the morning session completed well before the heptathlon high jump, spectators at the Kirani James Stadium, including a large group of traveling supporters from Trinidad sat in their seats, transfixed by Paul’s performance. Each time the Concord athlete set new personal bests at 1.66m, 1.69m, and again at 1.72m the crowd cheered her on before she knocked off the bar on all three attempts at 1.75m.
“I guess I was tired but I am still grateful,” she said before vowing to go after more personal bests. My strategy after that performance and before remains the same, and that is to try to PB in every event and just do my best going forward. I came third in 2022, second last year and the goal is gold this year.”
Carias again placed second to Paul in the heptathlon high jump with a best leap of 1.63m with Evans third with a best effort of 1.60m.
Robley also achieved a new personal best when she achieved 1.51 metres. Earlier, Robley was fourth in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.21 seconds.
Paul ended the day placed third with 2643 points, 173 points behind Carias who is second with 2816 points. Jamaica’s Smith is leading the event with 2945 points. Robey is in 5th position with 2500 points.
T&T’s athletes, Jeremiah Francis and Darius Moore are well off the pace in the boys’ open octathlon after four events on day one.
Francis and Moore started the afternoon session on the 6th and 13th respectively after a rough morning. In the 100m sprints, Francis placed 5th overall after finishing 3rd in group one in 11.41 seconds. Moore’s time of 11.66 seconds was good enough for 10th overall and sixth in group two.
In the octathlon long jump, Francis produced a best leap of 6.33 metres and placed 5th in the event while Moore leaped a distance of 5.68m and finished 13th.
Returning for two more events in the afternoon, Moore landed the shot put a distance of 9.52 metres and Francis, 9.47m finishing 11th and 12th respectively in the event. Then in the 400m, Moore placed second in group two with a time of 51.08 seconds and Francis placed third in group one with 50.24 seconds.
In the opening round of 400m sprints, T&T had three athletes advancing to the afternoon session’s finals.
Kyah Hyson was an automatic qualifier in the girls under 17 when she placed third in the first of two heats, clocking 57.12 seconds. However, in that final Hyson faded to 5th in 58.40 seconds. The gold medalist went to Jamaica’s Natassia Fletcher in 54.32 and silver to Bahamian Keyezra Thomas in 54.59.
In the boys’ under-17, Shezlon Gordon was outside of the three automatic spots, placing 5th in 50.36 seconds in heat one of two, but was one of two fastest losers to clinch a place in the finals. The three automatic spots from heat two went to Grenada’s Kemron Mathlyn, in 49.09 seconds, Eagan Neely of the Bahamas in 49.51, and Guyana’s Kaion Persaud who clocked 49.53. Jamaican Henry Paul placed 4th in 49.54 and like Gordon, advanced as well.
Gordon placed 8th in the final in 51.02 seconds. but participated in a race that produced a new championship record as Jamaica’s Nickecoy Bramwell decimated Usain Bolt’s previous mark of 47.33 seconds with a new mark of 47.27. Silver went to Grenada’s Mathlyn (47.96) and bronze went to Neely in 48.16
Gordon’s T&T teammate Khordae Lewis missed out on the final altogether when he placed 6th in heat one, in 52.50 seconds.
While T&T had no entrant in the girls’ under-20 400m, two athletes vied for a semi-final spot in the boys’ under-20 division.
Kyrell Thomas booked his place by winning the third out of four preliminary heats. The Cougars Track and Field man completed the one-lap sprint in 47.59 seconds. Only the winner of each heat was guaranteed a spot in the next round but runner-up to Thomas, Zion Shepherd of Bahamas earned a place as a non-automatic qualifier with a time of 47.62 seconds.
T&T’s Dashaun Lezama was not as fortunate, however, despite finishing second in heat two. Lezama clocked 49.13 to place second behind Javaughn Pinnock of Jamaica who grabbed the only automatic progression to the finals by stopping the clock at 49.08 seconds.
Thomas would go on to place 4th in the final in 47.23 seconds. The winner was Guyana’s Malachi Austin in 46.35 seconds, Jamaica’s Marcinho Rose placed second in 46.59 and Grenada’s Joshi Sylvester placed third in 46.93 seconds.