TT record holder Wright honours No.1 supporter : Long jump for mom

NEW TT long jump record holder Andwuelle Wright, says everything he does in the sport is dedicated to his mother, who passed away in 2014 because of cancer.

Wright, a former Carifta gold medallist, leaped into the record books with a 8.23m jump to win gold in the men's long jump at the NGC/Sagicor National Open Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, on Saturday.

The former national record was held by Wright's coach Wendell Williams, who held the previous mark of 8.14m since 1999. Wright broke the record on his sixth and final attempt.

Describing his achievement, Wright said, "It feels good, but more is still to come in the future. That is just the first step of everything, so we just put that behind us for the time being and moving forward to better things."

Wright has his eyes set on the 2019 World Championships and the 2020 Olympics. He said, "I hope to attend both World Championships and Olympic Games and perform to the best of my ability and hopefully obtain a medal in both of those events."

Wright, who is from Tobago, said all that he achieves is for his number one supporter, who passed away from cancer a few years ago. "I am just dedicating everything I do right now in track and field to my mother who passed away in 2014. Everything I have done thus far is just dedicated to her. (She was a) big supporter, number one supporter," Wright said.

Wright, now 20 years old, said he is glad he can now compete at a high level after battling with injuries last year. "This is actually my second year as a senior, my first year was last year but I was hampered by a lot of injuries last year. I could not perform to the best of my ability, but now those injuries are gone so my most challenging feat was battling with injuries."

Ephraim Serrette, president of the National Association of Athletics Administrations, said Wright's accomplishment was in the making saying, "It has been in the making, he had jumped 8.03 earlier this year and 8.07. The coach indicated to us that he would have broken that record this year," Serrette said.

Serrette was satisfied with the Championships despite the inclement weather and the ongoing FIFA World Cup currently taking place in Russia. He said Kyle Greaux and Wright were among the standout performers over the weekend.

Greaux, of Abilene Wildcats, surprised the crowd, on Sunday, by winning the men's 200m finals ahead of 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jereem Richards. Richards, who has won multiple medals throughout the world this year including at the Diamond League, was expected to capture the title on the rainy afternoon.

However, Greaux prevailed as the winner in 20.31 and Richards had to settle for silver in 20.35. On Saturday, Greaux took advantage of a weak 100m field to earn silver in 10.21 behind Keston Bledman of Simplex who won in 10.20. One of the notable absentees in the field was Olympic medallist Richard Thompson, who is currently recovering from an injury.

Michelle-Lee Ahye, Semoy Hackett and Keshorn Walcott all had top performances in their respective events. Ahye copped gold in the women's 100m, Hackett got gold in the women's 200m and Walcott captured gold in the men's javelin in a new games record.