3 Gold,1 Bronze at CARIFTA

JELANI BECKLES

COACH Gerard Franklyn said it is great that young TT javelin athletes have a role model in Keshorn Walcott, saying the 2012 Olympic javelin gold medallist may be having an impact on the young athletes especially Tyriq Horsford.

Franklyn was talking on the heels of TT’s success in javelin at the 2018 Flow CARIFTA Games in Bahamas, where TT won three gold medals and one bronze medal in the discipline. Remarkably, all four TT medallists are from Zenith Athletic Club in Tobago.

Veayon Joseph won TT’s first javelin medal at the Games when he copped gold in the boys Under-17 event with a 55.92m effort on Saturday. On Sunday, Horsford won his fourth consecutive javelin gold medal at the CARIFTA Games when he won the boys Under-20 with a top throw of 68.15m. It was the first time Horsford was competing in the Under-20 category after winning gold in the Under-18 category three years in a row.

Talena Murray and Kymoi Noray took their opportunity in the girls Under-20 javelin on Monday. Murray finished on top of the podium with a golden effort of 45.54m, while Noray claimed bronze with a throw of 41.80m. Savion Joseph also earned a medal for Zenith and TT at the Games.

On Monday, in the boys Under-17 long jump, Joseph leaped to a silver medal with a 6.89m effort. Zenith contributed five medals to TT’s overall medal tally of 17 at the Games. The TT haul included four gold, six silver and seven bronze medals meaning TT finished third on the medal standings. Jamaica won 82 medals (44 gold, 27 silver, 11 bronze) to top the standings, followed by Bahamas with 35 medals (six gold, 14 silver, 15 bronze).

Franklyn is one of the coaches at Zenith along with his brother Wade, who served as a coach on the CARIFTA team. Gerard, in an interview with the Newsday following the club’s success at the CARIFTA Games, said,

“We have been consistently producing quality athletes for a number of years. You would remember particularly Tyriq Horsford, he would have won three years back-to-back (in the Under-18 category)...and he stepped up for the first year in the Under-20 and he won gold.”

Gerard said his brother was a former field athlete, who focused on javelin and other throwing disciplines, which is now paying off in coaching. “He (Wade) spends a lot of time looking into mastering the coaching in these areas.”

Gerard believes Horsford and Murray have the potential to compete at the 2020 Olympics. “I think Tyriq Horsford will be one of the persons who should definitely (be able to compete at the next Olympics) and Talena Murray.”

Gerard said Horsford and Walcott are friends and believes their friendship may be leading to Horsford’s success. “Tyriq and Keshorn are very close friends. Sometimes you have a role model (right here) and some people will want to look at the foreigners only as role models, but we have one right here in Toco, right here in TT. Both of them are very good friends so I believe something is rubbing off.”

The Zenith coach said having a training venue specifically for field athletes will help develop those athletes. He explained that when field athletes are training it could be dangerous for athletes using the track. “One of the things my brother and I were clamouring for in Tobago is a training venue for events of that nature. We have equipment that is flying through the atmosphere and it could be very dangerous if you are not careful.”