media_artricles :: 2017

Olympic stars favoured

TRACK and field athletes Michelle-Lee Ahye and Keshorn Walcott are the favourites among 58 nominees to capture the Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year titles respectively when the First Citizens Sports Foundation hosts its 2016 Sport Awards tonight.

Thirty-one male and 27 female sporting personalities will be in contention when the show starts at 7.15 p.m. at Queen's Hall, St Ann's.

Walcott, the defending 2012 Olympic Men's Javelin champion, represented the final medal hope for Trinidad and Tobago and delivered a bronze medal throw of 85.38 metres to earn this country's sole medal at the Rio Olympiad.

The 23-year-old, one of the world's top-javelin throwers last year, also captured a bronze medal at the Bislett Games—the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo, Norway, where he threw 86.35 metres.

But Walcott will be pushed to the line by Akeem Stewart whose 2016 exploits, it could be argued, were even more stellar.

At the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the 24-year old Tobagonian snagged the gold medal in the men's F44 javelin with a world record of 57.32 metres for the F43 division. Stewart actually broke the F43 world record twice during the competition, having earlier posted a mark of 57.23 metres. He also earned the silver medal in the F44 discus with a 61.72 metre throw.

On the women's side, Ahye qualified for three different finals at the Olympic Games, including a sixth-place in the women's 100 metres final and the 200 metres, before helping the T&T women's 4x100 metres relay team to an eventual fifth-place finish.

Ahye also performed during the IAAF Diamond League circuit—in Rome, Zurich and Birmingham—twice establishing national records and personal-bests of 7.09 seconds in both the first round and semi-finals of the 60 metres competition and at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, where she eventually finished fourth in the final, in 7.11 seconds.

Paralympian Nyoshia Cain seems Ahye's strongest challenger; the 22-year-old earned the bronze medal in the women's T44 100 metres with a time of 13.10 seconds at the Rio Paralympics.

Cain earlier captured T44 titles in both the 100 and 200 metres at the IPC Desert Challenge Games in Phoenix, Arizona, USA in May—recording times of 13.15 seconds and 27.69 seconds, respectively; she also copped the 100-200 double at the JAAA All-Comers Meet in Kingston, Jamaica, the previous month.

Nominees

Male

Nigel Paul (boxing), Franklyn Boodram (automobile), Will Lee (badminton), Dexter Simon (body building), Matthew Robinson (canoeing/kayaking), Kevin Cupid (chess), Evin Lewis (cricket), Njisane Phillip (cycling), Kwasi Emmanuel (field hockey), Levi Garcia (football), Sachin Kumar (golf), Ronald Ali (horse racing), Christopher George (judo), Shiva Sookdeo (karate), Akeem Stewart (paralympics), Ross Garcia (powerboat racing), Adrian Know (powerlifting), Stuart Johnson (rallying), Shakeel Dyte (rugby), Andrew Lewis (sailing), Roger Daniel (shooting), Kale Wilson (squash), Jyiell Lewis (surfing),Dylan Carter (swimming), Yuvraaj Dookran (table tennis), Khaidem Neblett (taekwondo), George Vire (target archery), Akiel Duke (tennis), Keshorn Walcott (track & field), Jason Costello (triathlon), Daneil Williams (volleyball).

Female

Bridget Singh (automobile), Jada Renales (badminton), Vanessa Hill (body building), Felice Chow (canoeing/kayaking), Gabriella Johnson (chess), Merissa Aguilleira (cricket), Teneil Campbell (cycling), Petal Derry (field hockey), Kimika Forbes (football), Monifa Sealy (golf), Marisa Dick (gymnastics), Gabriella Wood (judo), Tamara Joseph (karate), Samantha Wallace (netball), Nyoshia Cain (paralympics), Lutchmi Sookram (powerlifting), Apphia Glasgow (rugby), Kelly Ann Arrindell (sailing), Savita Beatrice (shooting), Charlotte Knaggs (squash), Cherelle Thompson (swimming), Aleena Edwards (table tennis), Megan Lawrence (taekwondo), Carlista Mohammed (tennis), Michelle-Lee Ahye (track & field), Jenna Ross (triathlon), Sinead Jack (volleyball).

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