[UPDATED] Jereem, Ramharack top First Citizens sports awards; Badree, Williams join Hall of Fame

TRINIDAD and Tobago track and field star Jereem “The Dream” Richards and West Indies cricketer Karishma Ramharack were the big winners at the First Citizens Sports Foundation’s 2024 Sports Awards and 2025 Hall of Fame Induction at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain on January 11, as they claimed the respective Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards.

For Richards, it was his third major award in quick succession, having copped the National Association of Athletics Administrations male senior Athlete of the Year and the TT Olympic Committee’s Sportsman of the Year awards in the last two weeks.

At the junior level, TT’s cyclists stole the show as Junior Track World Championship double silver medallist Makaira Wallace grabbed the Youth Sportswoman of the Year award, with Jelani Nedd copping the Youth Sportsman of the Year award. Both Nedd and Wallace were members of the TT squad which earned eight medals at the 2024 Junior Pan Am Track Cycling Championships, with the former riding to silver medals in the men’s and team sprint events. Wallace copped three Pan Am medals, including silver medals in the women’s sprint and 500-metre time trial events. The Lystra Lewis Team of the Year award went to TT’s hockey 5’s team, which placed eighth at the FIH Hockey5s World Cup in Oman last January.

Themed the Power of Perseverance, First Citizens chairman Anthony Smart used the occasion to praise the athletes for the strength and courage they have shown on the world stage.

“In the sporting world, dry spells, doubts and sometimes disappointments – yours and ours – are par for the course. But history has shown us far too many times that seemingly impossible comebacks can and have been made, even when we felt all was lost,” Smart said during his address.

He said stakeholders must come together for the betterment of the athletes.

“As partners in sport, let us all resolve to identify how we can serve sports better and endeavour to consistently do so. But let us also be fair enough to appreciate that success not only takes preparation and hard work, but quite often, patience. In those times, we persevere.”

Richards, who is celebrating his 31st birthday today, had a strong season in 2024 and earned qualifying spots for both the 200-metre and 400m events at the Olympics in Paris. The men’s 400m final at the Paris Olympics was a bitter-sweet moment for Richards, as he smashed the national record to clock 43.78 seconds, but he agonisingly placed fourth and missed a medal.

The 400m gold medallist Quincy Hall (43.40) clocked a personal best, with Matthew Hudson-Smith (43.44) and Mazula Samukonga (43.74) seizing the silver and bronze medals as they both shattered previous area records.

Richards got the nod ahead of ace swimmer Dylan Carter, hockey star Teague Marcano, cyclist Nicholas Paul, Windies standout batsman Nicholas Pooran and paralympic star Akeem Stewart who earned a silver medal in the F64 discus event at the Paralympic Games.

Ramharack, a 29-year-old off-spinner, was a member of the Windies women’s team which got to the semifinal of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup in the UAE.

Ramraharck took 24 wickets across the One-day International and T20 formats for the Windies last year, including a career-best return of four for 15 versus Pakistan in a T20 in Karachi last April.

The Windies spinner got the award ahead of cyclist Teniel Campbell and first-time Olympians Leah Bertrand and Zuri Ferguson.

The First Citizens 2025 Hall of Fame inductees were track and field stalwart Wendell Williams and former West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree, who won two International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cups with the regional team.

First Citizens Awards Honour Roll

2024 Sportsman of the Year - Jereem Richards (athletics)

2024 Sportswoman of the Year - Karishma Ramharack (cricket)

2024 Youth Sportsman of the Year - Jelani Nedd (cycling)

2024 Youth Sportswoman of the Year - Makaira Wallace (cycling)

Lystra Lewis Award – 2024 Team of the Year - T&T Hockey 5’s World Cup Team

First Citizens 2025 Hall of Fame Inductees - Samuel Badree (cricket) and Wendell Williams (athletics – athlete and coach)

This story was originally published with the title "Jereem Richards, Karishma Ramharack take top First Citizens awards" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Trinidad and Tobago track and field star Jereem "The Dream" Richards and West Indies cricketer Karishma Ramharack were the big winners at the First Citizens Sports Foundation's 2024 Sports Awards and 2025 Hall of Fame Induction at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain on January 11, as they claimed the respective Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards.

For Richards, it was his third major award in quick succession, having copped the National Association of Athletics Administrations male senior Athlete of the Year and the TT Olympic Committee's Sportsman of the Year awards in the last two weeks.

At the junior level, TT's cyclists stole the show as Junior Track World Championship double silver medallist Makaira Wallace grabbed the Youth Sportswoman of the Year award, with Jelani Nedd copping the Youth Sportsman of the Year award. Both Nedd and Wallace were members of the TT squad which earned eight medals at the 2024 Junior Pan Am Track Cycling Championships, with the former riding to silver medals in the men's and team sprint events. Wallace copped three Pan Am medals, including silver medals in the women's sprint and 500-metre time trial events.

The Lystra Lewis Team of the Year award went to TT's hockey 5's team, which placed eighth at the FIH Hockey5s World Cup in Oman last January.