media_artricles :: 2016

Bolt, Thompson claim NACAC honours

Junior awards for Lyles, McLaughlin

Usain Bolt and his fellow Jamaican Elaine Thompson have been named North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Athletes of the Year.

Bolt, the NACAC Male Athlete of the Year, was a triple gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, his three victories taking his all-time Olympic gold medal haul to nine. Bolt opened his Rio account with the 100 metres title, his 9.81 seconds run earning him a comfortable cushion on the field. He was even more dominant in the 200m final, winning in 19.78. And in the 4x100m, Bolt anchored Jamaica to gold in 37.27.

Thompson was on the podium at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, USA, the Jamaican sprinter claiming bronze in the women's 60m dash. But it was Thompson's Olympic showing that earned her the NACAC Female Athlete of the Year award.

Thompson made light work of her rivals in the Rio 2016 100m final, winning in an impressive 10.71 seconds. In the 200m, Thompson topped the field in 21.78 to complete the women's sprint double.

There was a podium finish too for Thompson in the 4x100m relay, the 24-year-old athlete running the second leg for silver medallists Jamaica.

While Jamaica swept the 2016 NACAC senior awards, both junior (under-20) awards went to United States. Noah Lyles was named Junior Male Athlete of the Year, while the Junior Female Athlete of the Year award went to Sydney McLaughlin.

Lyles struck gold at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships, in Bydgoszcz, Poland, the American sprinter winning the 100m final in 10.17 seconds. He also grabbed gold in the 4x100m relay, anchoring the Americans to victory in 38.93.

Lyles came close to making the US Olympic team. At the trials, the teenager finished fourth in the 200m final, missing out on selection by just one spot. Lyles got to the line in a fast 20.09 seconds to become the fourth fastest junior in history in the half-lap event.

Among the athletes Lyles beat to the line in the Olympic trials 200m final was Michael Norman, the man who would go on to strike gold in the event at the World U20 Championships.

At 17, Sydney McLaughlin was the youngest member of the US track and field team at the Rio Olympics. She qualified for the Games by finishing third at the Olympic trials in a world junior record time of 54.15 seconds. McLaughlin has three of the four fastest under-20 times in history, and they were all recorded this year. The 54.15 clocking is also a world youth (under-18) record.

McLaughlin reached the semifinal round at the Olympics. And though she opted to skip the IAAF World U20 Championships, the talented teen was undoubtedly this year's standout junior in the one-lap hurdles. At the US Junior Championships, she triumphed in the final in 54.54 seconds, beating Anna Cockrell by more than a second. Cockrell went on to capture the World U20 title.

The NACAC Athletes of the Year were chosen by a three-man panel: Trinidad and Tobago's quadruple Olympic medallist and NBC track and field analyst Ato Boldon; Cuban journalist Javier Clavelo; and British Virgin Islands track and field statistician Rey O'Neal.

In a press release, yesterday, NACAC Media Commission chairman Michael Bascombe said: "The final selection came from a list of nominees submitted by sports journalists."

Become a subscriber to the Trinidad Express Newspapers for access to all our articles via our e-paper.

Click here to subscribe | Log- In

Top