media_artricles :: 2017

Horsford ends with silver

...as T&T bags best ever medal haul

Three-time Carifta Games champion Tyriq Horsford capped off a historic outing for T&T athletes at the 2017 Bahamas Commonwealth Youth Games by grabbing silver in the Boys Javelin Final at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, Nassau, yesterday.

Horsford, 17, had a best throw of 69.43 metres, well short of his best of 76.50 to split Australians, 16-year-old Neil Van Rensburg who won with a distance of 74.19 and his team-mate Oscar Sullivan, who ended with bronze with a best of 66.23m

With the silver by Horsford, who attended the Loughborough University's annual Sport Development: Javelin Training Camp, in England in late May to help with his preparations, added to T&T's medal haul of four.

Overall, T&T ended with five medals, two gold, two silver and a bronze to surpass it's previous best medal haul of one bronze, won in 2011 in the shot put competition by field athlete Hezekiel Romeo .

Gold, Silver for Beach Soccer teams

On Saturday night, T&T's Under-18 Girls Beach Soccer team wrote their name into local sport history by becoming the first T&T Team Sport to win a medal at a multisport event, 6-5 over Jamaica at the Malcolm Park Beach Soccer Stadium next to the Sir Sydney Poitier Bridge.

It was sweet revenge for the Chad Appoo-coached young women in red, white and black who trailed early in the 3-0 and 4-2 and were also beaten by the same Jamaicans, 5-2 in a round-robin encounter on Thursday July 20.

The golden girls of the T&T Beach Soccer team were then presented with their medals by their own Chef de Mission, former national volleyballer Rheeza Grant.

Commnenting on the gold medal display Grant said everyone in the T&T camp were elated, honoured and excited.

"Its such a tremendous privilege and honour to represent our country. The plan before we left home was - do our very best-give our heart and soul and every ounce of energy . I am proud of our athletes . They gave it their all."

However, the T&T Under-18 Boys could not complete the double as they were beaten 2-6 by St Lucia, a team it defeated 4-3 on Thursday July 20.

It was also a history making night for T&T swimmer Jeron Thompson on Saturday, after he won this country's first ever CYG Games swimming medal, a bronze in the 50m freestyle final in 23.43 seconds to trail Scotland's Alexander McLay who won in 23.10 and Sri Lankan, Kyle Abeysinghe (23.38).

Earlier in heat four of five, Thompson was second in 23.68 behind McLay who clocked 23.22.

On Thursday night, sprinter, 17-year-old Adell Colthrust, a Carifta Games champion raced to T&T's first ever gold medal, when he won the Boys 100 metres in 10.55 seconds to beat Jamaican Kevon Stone (10.59) and Bahamian Adrian Curry (10.61) into second and third respectively.

The T&T sprinter had won the fourth and final in 10.63 and also topped his semis in 10.63 ahead of taking gold. (NS)

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