media_artricles :: 2015

TT athletes have terrible Prefontaine Classic

Everything that could go wrong went wrong for Trinidad and Tobago’s athletes yesterday at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, USA. There was an injury, a stumble and poor performances as no local athlete was close to securing a medal.

World champion Jehue Gordon got TT off on the wrong foot, falling in the Men’s 400m hurdles final which he did not finish. Gordon had a poor start to the race and had significant ground to make up after hitting the final straight in sixth position. But with around 70m to go, Gordon clipped the hurdle and fell flat out of the race. Further up the track, it was USA 1-2-3 with Johnny Dutch (48.20), Bershawn Jackson (48.22) and Michael Tinsley (48.79) occupying the podium places respectively.

In the women’s 100m Diamond final, TT were well represented with Michelle Lee Ahye, lining up alongside compatriot Kelly-Ann Baptiste, in a high-powered field.

With Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, American Carmelita Jeter and Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor of Nigeria also competing, the TT athletes were pressed to produce their best. The TT women were both slow out of the blocks and Ahye, whose season was truncated in 2014 due to injury, again fell victim to the injury bug as she began clutching her hamstring with about 30m to go. The ace TT sprinter’s momentum carried her across the finish line in last spot in 11.90. Baptiste was in sixth place in a time of 11.08. Fraser-Pryce was in sensational form in snatching gold but was pushed to her limit by Ivory Coast’s Murielle Ahoure - both were timed at 10.81. American Tori Bowie (10.82) took bronze.

It was another disappointment for the red, white and black in the Men’s 100m race as national record holder Richard Thompson, running out of lane eight, placed seventh. Thompson was never in contention, stopping the clock at a slow 10.27.

USA’s Tyson Gay, who was recently stripped of his 2012 London Olympic silver medal for doping, brushed off the criticism he has been receiving with a slick 9.88 performance. Taking silver and bronze were USA’s Michael Rodgers and China’s Su Bingtian respectively.

Meanwhile, there was no stopping Olympic champions Kirani James of Grenada in the Men’s 400m event. James torched the field and American rival Lashawn Merritt in a world leading golden time of 43.95. Merritt had to settle for silver in 44.51 while Christopher Brown of Bahamas followed in 44.54.

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