media_artricles :: 2018

Horsford leads T&T World U20 medal quest

No local track and field athlete has been listed among the favourites for the IAAF World Under-20 Championships but they left yesterday knowing that any one of them can cause an upset in Finland.

Four-time Carifta champion Tyriq Horsford of Zenith Club of Tobago will lead a 14-member team in the premier competition for the leading junior track and field athletes in the world, which starts on Tuesday and runs until July 15.

One such athlete Horsford will be up against for a place in the top three spots is South African Anro van Eeden. The 19-year-old is the standout U-20 thrower this year with a best of 77.59 metres. Van Eeden world U20-leading throw came at his national U-20 championships back in April.

Horsford's best this season has measured 69.82m, achieved at the Carifta Games held in Grenada in May. Last year though, Horsford who is ranked 60th in the U-20 world rankings, got past the 70m-mark, with a personal best of 76.50 at the Carifta event held in Curacao. He followed up with a 73.85-throw the following month when had competed at Loughborough in London.

Another local javelin thrower will go for glory in Tampere, the city where the event will unfold, Horsford's clubmate Talena Murray, another reigning Carifta gold medallist Talena Murray.

She will be up against the likes of Italian Carolina Viscam, a silver medallist at last year's European Junior Championships, Li Hui-Jun of Chinese Taipei, the winner at last month's Asian Junior Championships and Maura Fiamoncini of the US, who sits fourth on the world U20 list courtesy of a 56.21m earlier this season. Murray is ranked at 101 off her throw in January, which reached 50.60.

Over on the track, Timothy Fredericks will be a contender in the men's 200m event with a personal best time of 20.81 seconds achieved last month. Number one ranked Jamaican Christopher Taylor, who has a personal best time of 20.35 registered in March, is the favourite to take gold.

Fredericks will also compete in the 200m and is part of the 4x100m relay team.

These athletes will seek to continue T&T's rich history at Championships. Over the past nine editions, T&T has won six gold medals, two silver medals and seven bronze medals.

At the last edition of the world juniors in 2016 in Poland, Khalifa St Fort placed third in the women's 100m. Her coach Ato Boldon though has been the most successful local athlete winning the 100m and 200m titles in Seoul, South Korea back in 1992. This feat was the first ever double sprint title in World Junior Championship history.

National athletes such as Renny Quow, Keshorn Walcott, Machel Cedenio, Jehue Gordon and Jereem Richards have also made their mark at the World Junior event.

Squad 

MEN
Timothy Fredericks (100m, 200m, 4x100m), Tyrell Edwards (100m, 4x100m), Ako Hislop (200m, 4x100m), Carlon Hosten (4x100m), Kion Benjamin (4x100m), David Pierce (4x100m), Onal Mitchell (400m), Tyriq Horsford (javelin).

WOMEN
Akilah Lewis (100m), Jenea Spinks (100m), Iantha Wright (200m), Rae-anne Serville (400m), Ianna Roach (Shot Put), Talena Murray (javelin).

OFFICIALS
Dawn Washington (team manager), Wade Franklyn (throws coach), Eric Mccree (sprints coach), Kelvin Nancoo (sprints coach), Kurlin Smith (team medic), Clint Mckenzie (team medic).

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