Waldron, Cumberbatch, Frederick golden on Carifta track

TAFARI Waldron, Nathan Cumberbatch and Sanaa Frederick won gold medals for Trinidad and Tobago on the closing day of the 2023 Carifta Games at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas on Monday.

TT ended the three-day meet with 21 medals – five gold, eight silver and eight bronze.

Waldron dominated the field in the boys Under-20 5,000-metre field leading for the majority of the race. Waldron, who lapped some of his opponents, won in 15 minutes, 33.38 seconds (15:33.38). The Bermuda pair of Kahzi Sealey (15:37.56) and Jake Brislane (15:45.84) copped silver and bronze.

In the closing 50m of the race, Waldron gestured for the crowd to cheer him on. In an interview after the race, Waldron said he benefited from being injury-free for the entire year. Mark Dwarika of TT was fourth in 16:15.65.

It was a commanding performance from Cumberbatch as he led from start to finish in the boys U-20 800m final. Cumberbatch and fellow TT athlete Stefan Camejo were first and second respectively for 300m into the race.

Camejo dropped to fifth position shortly after the final lap began with Cumberbatch still in front. Camejo was in fourth place heading into the final 100m, but showed determination to pass Sancho Smith of Bermuda in the last 10m to get bronze in 1:52.92.

Cumberbatch won gold in 1:51.34 and Barbadian Favian Gollop earned silver in 1:52.33.

In the girls U-20 200m final, after two false starts Frederick won with a time of 23.60 seconds. Jamaican Sabrina Dockery was expected to challenge for the gold, but she was one of the athletes disqualified.

Frederick said the false starts “threw me off at first but I realised I had to focus on my race and make sure I execute right.”

Earning silver was Kenyatta Grate of the British Virgin Islands in 24.11 and Amari Pratt of Bahamas took bronze in 24.17.

Brandon Leacock got bronze for TT in the boys Under-17 800m final. Leacock left everything out on the track to get on the podium. In the final 20m of the race, Leacock stumbled and looked like he would fall. but he steadied himself and passed Jamaican Rasheed Pryce to steal bronze. Guyanese Javon Roberts won gold in 1:56.64 and Jamaican Delano Todd took silver in 1:57.44.

The TT boys U-17 4x400m relay team bagged bronze in a time of 3:23.74. Jamaica won gold in 3:19.04 and Bahamas were second in 3:20.47. The TT Under-20 4x400m girls and boys teams both won silver medals in their respective finals.

In the girls U-17 800m final, TT’s Natalia Eastman finished seventh in 2:22.00.

On Sunday morning, TT’s Keneisha Shelbourne took bronze in the girls U-20 high jump event. Shelbourne cleared the bar at 1.75 metres to land on the podium.

Jamaicans Torian Cavien’s (1.81m) amd Deijanae Bruce (1.78m) won gold and silver. TT continued to have success in the field events as Janae De Gannes earned silver in the girls U-20 long jump final. De Gannes recorded a best leap of 5.93m.

Jamaican Jade-Ann Dawkins won gold with a leap of 6.14m and Bruce won her second medal of the day when she took bronze with a 5.78m effort.

Competing in hurdles finals were Tyrique Vincent and Kewes Gomes. Gomes ended eighth in the girls U-17 100m hurdles in 15.52 seconds and Vincent was seventh in the boys Under-17 110m hurdles in 15.36.

After press time on Saturday, it was confirmed that Gianna Paul of TT grabbed silver in the girls heptathlon open event. Paul ended with 4,594 points, finishing behind Jamaican Sherika Christie (5,007 points). Kaelie Sanago of Martinique got bronze after getting a total of 4,233 points.

The TT girls Under-17 4x100m team were upgraded to gold after initially copping silver on Saturday night. Jamaica were disqualified after running out of their lane in the final handover.

It was announced early on Monday that there would be a rerun of the controversial boys U-20 4x100m final at 3.15 pm, after several issues on Sunday. However, it was later announced that the initial results would stand. TT placed third, behind Jamaica and Bahamas, respectively.