A quiet man, a focused man, a determined individual. Those are but a few of the descriptions that we can give to T&T’s leading quarter-miler Machel Cedenio.
The 24-year-old, running in heat one of the Men’s 400 metres first round looked comfortable in recording a time of 45.26 seconds in victory and the ninth overall time going into today's semifinals at 1.51 pm (TT time).
"It was okay today, I felt good and just did enough to hopefully get a good lane drawn for the semifinals tomorrow which will be important as that will be a race," Cedenio told Guardian Media.
"The weather conditions are favouring a faster time than Pan Am and I am certainly feeling healthier."
There is a sense that Cedenio, T&T’s lone participant in the one-lap wants to prove a point.
"This is my third World Championships and it is about time that I get a medal so I am just keeping focused and taking everything one day at a time," said Cedenio
On the injury to Great Britain champion Matthew Hudson-Smith, who broke down in the first heat and other competitors, the local athlete said: "Yes that was unfortunate, he is my training partner and I know he was suffering from some injuries. I am not worried about anyone, it is just important to run my race and that is my goal.
"Tomorrow (today) maybe like a final with everyone focused on reaching the final and so I am aware of that, and will be ready."
Today, Cedenio, who will be T&T's only athlete on the show, will race from lane seven in semifinal three at 1.51 pm, against USA’s Michael Norman, Jamaica’s Akeem Bloomfield and Colombia’s Anthony Zambrano.
The 400m final is set for Friday, giving the finalists a day rest after the semifinal.
Later, a reoccurrence of the cartilage injury again affected Kyle Greaux, resulting in him finishing eighth in a time of 20.39 in the men’s 200m final, won by the USA’s Noah Lyles (19.83) with Canada’s Andre De Grasse second with 19.95 and Ecuador’s Alex Quinonez (19.98) in third.
A reflective Greaux said: "I started well but as we came off the turn I could not get the kick as I wanted and I felt the pain there but I was going to run through the line.
“This was my first World Championships final and it gave me a lot of encouragement for next year at the Olympics. Mentally, I was ready today (yesterday) but physically it was not there.
“The camp is the smallest ever and I am missing the 100 metres relay guys but we have a great spirit.
Greaux will return home and spend time with his family and aim to recuperate, aiming for success shortly.
"I know that I have more in me and a medal is what I am working towards," declared Greaux.
In the women’s 200m semifinals, Kamaira Durant finished seventh in a time of 23.44 and failed to advance to today’s final.
The local sprinter, who ran in lane four, said: "I planned to come out harder than yesterday (Monday) from the start and just run my race but even though I thought I did that, it was not good enough.
"At the moment, I can say that in this my second World Championships at least I made it further than last time as I got out of first round," added Durant. "Next will be the relays and we are all looking forward to that now."