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Turning silver into gold

Machel Cedenio is targeting two titles at the 2013 Carifta Games, here in Nassau, Bahamas.

At the 2012 Games, in Bermuda, Cedenio seized silver in the boys’ under-20 400 metres and 4x400m events. But while the 17-year-old quartermiler is keen to turn silver into gold, he does not want to put too much pressure on himself.

“My goal,” Cedenio told the Express, shortly after arriving in Nassau on Thursday evening, “is to really go out there and do my best. Whatever my best brings I will be satisfied with it. I’m looking to go out there and see if I can run a personal best (pb). I know the track will be fast, it will be a fast race, so I’m just going to do my best and try to run a fast time. If my fast time brings the gold medal, it brings it.”

Cedenio’s 400 pb is 46.02 seconds, while his best time in the 200 is 21.15 seconds. At Carifta 2011, in Jamaica, he captured the boys’ under-17 200/400 double. As an under-20 athlete, however, Cedenio’s focus has been on the longer event.

“I had to psyche myself for two races, and that is more energy. I could put it into one race, so it pretty much works.”

Cedenio is among the Trinidad and Tobago athletes who will be on show at the new Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium this morning, in the opening session of Carifta 2013. He has been drawn in lane four in the first of three qualifying heats. The other T&T runner in the event, Asa Guevara will do battle from lane seven in heat three.

Cedenio is 16th on the 2013 men’s 400m world performance list with a 46.42 seconds clocking. His main rival here in Nassau, Jamaican Javon Francis is seventh at 46.21.

“I’m going there with the second fastest time,” said Cedenio, “and I’ve hardly run 400s for the season, so I have confidence I could go out there and try to win the race.”

Cedenio and Guevara will also be in action on Monday, in the 4x400m relay. Cedenio said the T&T team will chase gold and records.

“That’s our plan from the start. We’re trying to go out there and break the Carifta record and the national (junior) record. Everybody is running 46/47, so we have a really good team to go out there and win the 4x4 and break the national record.”

The T&T under-20 record is three minutes, 05.70 seconds, while the Carifta standard is 3:07.10.

T&T manager Dexter Voisin is also confident of the country’s chances in the boys’ under-20 4x400m relay.

“There’s no reason why this team cannot come out on top. They can challenge the national junior record.”

At Carifta 2012, T&T earned 22 medals, six of them gold. Voisin told the Express he has no specific medal goal for the 2013 edition of the Games.

“I don’t have an overall target. I always leave room for surprises and disappointments. The goal is for the athletes to perform at their best, so if they go out there and get two medals, 22 or thirty-something, once they do their best I will be satisfied.

“I’m hoping Mark London can reproduce the type of form to repeat (as boys’ under-20 800m champion).

“We have Chelsea James,” the manager continued, “a returning gold medallist (in the girls’ under-17 shot put). She will be one of the potential female medallists. Domonique Williams is improving, and is one of the athletes who could put in a good performance. Lisa Wickham is coming on. She improved at Falcon Games, and I hope she continues to improve. Wickham could be one of those who could be a surprise.”

At the Falcon Games, Wickham seized silver in the women’s 100m in a personal best 11.56 seconds.

Head coach Edwin Skinner told the Express expectations are high in the T&T camp.

“We have a nice mix of experience and young and talented athletes. To give an exact medal count, I won’t do this but I expect us to do very well.

“We have high quality athletes, so we should be able to do as good or even better (than last year).

“We are looking forward to it,” Skinner continued. “We’re in an excellent position, but we can’t take anything for granted. This is a new Carifta Games. What’s past is past. All the athletes are quite aware of that, that they cannot take anything for granted. As long as they do their personal bests, a lot of medals will come.”

At the opening ceremony, late yesterday, conditions were chilly at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

“It’s not as cold as Bermuda (last year),” said Voisin, “but that’s something we’ll be looking at and looking to manage…the athletes adapting to conditions.”

Kevin Roberts will be the first T&T athlete on the track today. At 9.15 a.m., he will compete in the boys’ open heptathlon 110m hurdles. Two T&T athletes, Ayanna Glasgow and Khemani Roberts, are listed for the first field event of the meet, the girls’ under-17 high jump, which is scheduled for nine a.m..

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