Nikoli Blackman sweeps men's freestyle at Commonwealth Games

Swimmer Nikoli Blackman completed a perfect swim at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games on Wednesday as he splashed to his third freestyle gold medal, the 50m this time, while compatriot Zarek Wilson latched on to bronze, in front of a roaring National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva.

Blackman showed tenacity in the pool and touched the wall ahead of a fast field in 22.36 seconds. Bahamian Marvin Johnson stayed close behind to bag the silver medal in 22.54s while Wilson affirmed himself a podium spot with a bronze medal finish in 22.95s.

Swimming out of lane four, and Wilson in lane six, Blackman, 18, flew out the blocks and when he surfaced, had an early lead. The race was a tight one and Wilson kept pace with his countryman to the end.

Despite the loud cheers egging on Blackman and Wilson during the race, the sold-out Aquatic Centre crowd jumped for joy when the results hit the big screen.

The result for Blackman saw complete a sweep of the men’s freestyle events, having won the 50m, 100m and 200m events, over the past four days.

Wilson also showed class over the duration as he also bagged three medals. He finished the Games with 100m butterfly gold, 50m free bronze and 50m backstroke bronze.

In their preliminary races, Blackman (22.81s) topped heat seven while Wilson was second fastest (23.07s) in heat six.

Earlier on, cycling added its first quota of medals to TT’s 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games haul as Syndel Samaroo and Danell James powered to men’s sprint silver and bronze respectively at the National Cycling Centre in Balmain, Couva, on Wednesday.

James did well to come back from a ride down to notch two consecutive wins over Malaysian Darwish Sanusi Muhd to snatch bronze while Samaroo battled hard but could not get past eventual Australian gold medallist Ryan Tayte in the final two rides.

After both TT riders advanced to the semi-final on Tuesday, unluckily, they faced each other in semi-final two. Samaroo defeated his compatriot in two straight rides while Tayte eased past Muhd in semi-final one, in consecutive rides.

On his silver medal showing, Samaroo was elated and said it served as a good motivator heading into the upcoming Junior Track World Championships, which begins in Cali, Colombia, on August 23.

“It feels great to represent and win a medal for my country. It was a tough one. I was bit scared but I tried my best and executed great.

“Coming into these Games I already knew what was going to happen. The medal feels very great, I feel proud,” he said.

James was also pleased to have come back from a race down to better Muhd for the bronze medal.

“Just keeping confident and executing. I knew what I had to do, the mistakes I made, and I had to focus and get back in that mind set and did what I had to do.

“Prepare, recovery was very important. I just didn’t want anyone to come in my corner,” he said.

The pair return to the velodrome on Thursday for another shot at gold in the men’s keirin final (5:40pm). The odds look good since their only other opponents are Tayte, Muhd and Indian Vedant Jadhav.

Additionally, TT women cyclists begin their keirin quest with Makaira Wallace in heat one and Alexia Wilson in heat two, from 11am. Titus Bharat and Jadian Neaves also go for gold in the men’s points race from 11:36am.

In the women’s sprint final, Scotland’s Sarah Johnson defeated Malaysian Alyssa Mohd Farid in straight rides to win gold while Australian Liliya Tatarinoff bettered Malaysian Ann Tung Yong to ride to bronze.

Australia and Scotland also dominated the women’s 7.5km scratch race as Lauren Bates (Australia), Millie Thomson (Scotland) and Keira Will (Australia) captured the top three respectively, in the 30-lap event.

And in the men’s individual pursuit final, Scotland’s Calum Moir won gold ahead of Welsh silver medallist Sam Fisher.