Trinidad and Tobago's Akeem Stewart wins 3rd Parapan Am gold in discus

Trinidad and Tobago's ace paralympic athlete Akeem Stewart delivered a gold medal performance in the discus throw (F64 classification) at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Chile on Friday.

Stewart, now a three-time gold medalist in the discus throw in the history of the Parapan American competition, recorded a distance of 58.02 metres at the Centro Atletico Mario Recordon to grab top spot in the six-man field in the final. US athlete Ryan Rohn finished second with a throw of 52.31m, with Cuba's Yorisan Monterey finishing a distant third with his throw of 38.23 metres.

The Tobagonian Stewart has accumulated many accolades for TT over the years.

Stewart won two gold medals (discus and javelin, F44) at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto. At the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Stewart claimed gold in the javelin (F44) and captured silver in the F44 discus event. In 2017, Stewart copped a gold and silver medal in the discus and javelin throws (F64), respectively, at the Parapan Games in Peru. He also won gold in both the javelin and shot put events (F44) at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, England.

The International Paralympic Committee defines the F61-64 classification as "lower limb/s competing with prosthesis affected by limb deficiency and leg length difference."

Meanwhile, the F42-44 classification is defined as, "lower limb competing without prosthesis affected by limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement."

A facebook post from the TT Paralympic Committee congratulated Akeem on his sterling achievement on Friday.

"Another proud moment for the Trinidad and Tobago Paralympic Committee...Red, White and Black."