Sanaa Frederick, Trevaughn Stewart, Solè Frederick and Jamario Russell, running in that order, earned T&T’s lone medal on the final day of athletics in the Trinbago Commonwealth Youth Games, a bronze in the mixed 4x100 metres relay final.
This was in the penultimate event on day four of track and field at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Port-of-Spain on Thursday.
The T&T quartet followed to the line, the Nigerian team of Justina Eyakpobeyan, Samuel Uchenna Ogazi, Faith Okwose and Isreal Sunday Okon winning in a CYG record of 42.68. They bettered the previous time of 43.19 achieved by Australia in 2017 in Nassau, Bahamas. In second place was the English team of Mabel Oluwayemisi Akande, Teddy Wilson, Noah Hanson and Thea Brown with 42.71 in an exciting final.
Brown collected the baton from Hanson and had England out front heading to the line. However, Okon running the anchor leg for Nigeria received the baton in second place coming around the bend and chased down Brown, edging her at the line for the gold medal in record time. It was the second record to be broken on the day. The other was by Phoebe Gill of England in the women’s 800m.
It was the second medal for T&T’s Sanaa Frederick, who placed third in the women’s 100m dash on Monday, coincidentally behind Nigerians Okwose and Eyakpobeyan, respectively.
Her twin sister Sole had earlier crossed fifth in the women’s 200m final. The T&T sprinter clocked 24.07 seconds in a race won by reigning 100m champion Okwose, who completed the sprint double, with a winning time of 23.36.
Okwose also led another one-two finish by the Nigerians as her compatriot Eyakpobeyan, second-place finisher in the 100m dash, copped her second silver medal with a 23.47-clocking. La’nica Locker of Antigua and Barbuda was the bronze medallist with 23.56. St Lucian Naomi London also finished ahead of T&T’s Frederick in fourth spot with 23.83.
Minutes earlier, T&T’s Keeran Sriskandarajah placed eighth in the men’s 800m final with 1:59.89.
The two-lap event was won by Kenyan Kelvin Koech with 1:50.14, followed by Miles Waterworth (1:52.21) of England and Scottish runner Caleb McLeod (1:52.83), respectively.
In the women’s version of the race, winner Gill did it in a record-breaking time of 2:02.30. The English runner, in nabbing the gold, lowered the previous record of 2:04.23 achieved by Caster Semenya of South Africa in Pune, India, in 2018. In second place was India’s Asha Kiran Barla (2:04.99) and in third was Australian Fleur Cooper (2:05.86).
Off the track, Keneisha Shelbourne was a fifth-place finisher in the women’s high jump. The T&T jumper’s best clearance was at 1.70m.
Winning the gold was Toby Stolberg of Australia with 1.78m, silver went to Thea Brown of England also with 1.78m and the bronze was shared between Australian Izobelle Louison-Roe and India’s Pooja Pooja as the jumpers matched each other’s effort clearing the bar at 1.75m.
Overall, T&T won four medals—two silver and two bronze—in track and field. Jumpers Janae De Gannes and Jaidi James are the silver medallists. De Gannes placed second in the women’s long jump on Monday and James in the men’s high jump on Wednesday.
The bronze medals were won by Sanaa Frederick in the 100m dash and, of course, the mixed sprint relay team.
