Golden Day 1 on the track for Carifta hosts Trinidad and Tobago

HOST nation Trinidad and Tobago had a rousing finish to the first day of the 2025 Carifta Athletics at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on April 19 as they secured five medals in the afternoon session, including three gold.

TT's three gold medallists on day one were Oshea Cummings, Christopher Sammy and Keneisha Shelbourne.

TT ended the morning session without any medals as their field athletes found the going tough. However, several athletes booked their spots in the finals of the 100-metre and 400m events as the hosts looked to be warming up to the occasion.

TT landed their first medal in the boys' under-20 400m final, as Da Shaun Lezama put in a strong run to grab a bronze medal in a time of 47.19 seconds. Running out of lane two, Lezama started with vigour and he held his composure nicely to finish well down the straightaway behind gold-medal winner Zion Miller (46.64) and Malachi Austin (47.07).

The excited home crowd didn't have to wait long before TT got their first gold medal, as Cummings put on a stunning performance in the girls' under-17 1,500m to cross the line first in four minutes, 44.62 seconds (4:44.62).

Cummings was in a tight battle with Haiti's Aisha Wajid, but the former used her sprint speed to pull away in the last 100 metres. Wajid took the silver medal in 4:45.20, with Jamaica's Denique Palmer placing third in 4:47.50.

Cummings' run seemed to inspire Sammy, as the latter ran a splendid race to win the boys' under-17 1,500m final in 4:09.65. Sammy led for almost the entirety of the race and pulled away from the chasing pack to calmly stride over the line.

"It was amazing. I did my best. I went out the fastest and came out the fastest and just swept the ground with everybody," Sammy told the media.

"I was in front for most of the race. I pushed myself. Armani (Dillon) and I were up in front and we dragged them out.

Dillon also had a solid race, but faded in the latter stages to place sixth in 4:20.66.

Bermuda's Cameron Adkins was second in 4:12.86, with Jamaica's Luke Plummer third in 4:13.54.

"That was really my game plan inno. If they go out fast, I can still run back on them," Sammy said. "The plan was really to rock from behind and buss it on the last lap. That's what I did and I feel great."

TT's third gold came from Shelbourne who pulled away from the field with a jump of 12.98m on her final attempt in the women's under-20 triple jump. Shelbourne improved steadily throughout the rounds as she had jumps of 12.59m, 12.67m, 12.63m and 12.84m before her winning effort.

Jamaica's Sabrina Atkinson was second with a 12.83m jump, with French Guiana's Leane Alfred third with a 12.82m leap.

TT's other medal was a silver, and it came from sprinter Dylan Woodruffe who ran a personal best of 10.30 seconds in an exciting boys' under-20 100m final. Woodruffe was just edged to the gold medal by Jamaica's Jamal Stephenson (10.24), while Grenada's Ethan Sam was third in 10.41.

Earlier, Woodruffe ran a swift 10.44 in the semis to cement his place in the final.

"I was just happy I came second and then I looked at the clock and saw (10.30) seconds and I was in shock. My personal best before that was 10.40. I'm very grateful and very thankful," Woodruffe said.

"This year was much a better process than last year because last year there were some injuries. This year, it's been pretty good. Being in the home atmosphere brings more motivation and more hunger to go in front of your home crowd. I think that happened and it helped me a lot with this run."

There was some disappointment for TT in the girls' under-20 100m final, though, as twin sisters Sole and Sanaa Frederick finished fifth and sixth respectively. After a false start from Jamaican favourite Sabrina Dockery, her countrywoman Shanoya Douglas sprinted home to take gold in 11.26. Antigua and Barbuda's Geolyna Dowdye (11.43) and Bahamas' Shatalya Dorsett (11.45) grabbed silver and bronze.

TT ended the day third on the medal table, as Jamaica led the way with 20 medals (seven gold, six silver, seven bronze), with Bahamas second with 11 medals (six gold, three silver, two bronze).