PAN AM GAMES

Sunday July 26th, Toronto, Canada– Trinidad and Tobago added two medals to its Pan Am total last night, claiming gold and bronze in the men’s 4x400 and 4x100 metre relays.

In the Men’s 4x400 relay, the quartet of Renny Quow, Jarrin Solomon, Emmanuel Mayers and Machel Cedenio came together to produce a blistering season’s best time of 2.59.60 to take first place and the gold medal.  Quow ran an excellent first leg handing off to Solomon with a slight lead. Solomon maintained the pace and handed off to Mayers in second who briefly fell to third before Cedenio on anchor picked off the competitors from Cuba and the United States.

Following the race Solomon said, “This feels real good. After all the races this week, gold and a medal bonus is nice way to top it off.” Solomon, Cedenio, Quow and Mayers will receive US$9000 from the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee’s (TTOC) 10Golds24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation fund.

In the men’s 4 x100 relay the sprint quartet of Rondel Sorillo, Keston Bledman, Emmanuel Callendar and Dan-Neil Telesford finished 3^rd to claim the bronze in a time of 38.69. The race was not without controversy as Canada originally claimed victory. A protest was launched by the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil however claiming a lane violation by Canada in the third leg handover. The challenge proved to be successful and Canada was eventually disqualified.

Speaking after the race, Callendar said, “There are rules in every sport and we have to abide by it. It’s not the way we expected to win but but we’ll take this bronze; and continue moving forward to every meet, trying to perfect our chemistry so by the time world championships comes around we can get the gold.” Callendar also expressed joy about the medal bonus that they successful relay team members will receive from the TTOC.

In the Women’s 4x400 final, the relay quartet of Janeil Belille, Romona Modeste, Alena Brooks and Sparkle McKnight finished 7^th in a time of 3:33:31.  Out on the road, 2007 Pan Am silver medallist, Emile Abraham placed 8^th out of thirty competitors in the men’s cycling road race with a time of 3:46:35. It was an extremely competitive race with Venezuelan Miguel Ubeto claiming the gold in 3:46:26 and Eric Marcotte of the United States and Boivin Guillame of Canada claiming the silver and bronze in the same time.

Finally, in field hockey Trinidad and Tobago defeated Cuba 13-0 to end the tournament ranked 7^th.

Trinidad and Tobago ends this year’s Pan Am Games ranked 15th with eight medals (3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze), one more than it’s highest ever Pan Am medal haul.

A storming finish from Machel Cedenio in Toronto, Canada, late on Saturday night, propelled Trinidad and Tobago to men's 4x400 metres gold and the country's best-ever Pan American Games performance.

Renny Quow ran the leadoff leg for Team T&T, handing the baton to Jarrin Solomon. Hurdler Emanuel Mayers performed third leg duties. The three T&T athletes battled hard, but there was still a lot to do on the anchor leg.

Cedenio, the 400m silver medallist, was equal to the task, the 19-year-old quartermiler surging past the Bahamian and Cuban anchormen to snatch gold for T&T in two minutes, 59.60 seconds. Cuba claimed silver in 2:59.84, while United States clocked 3:00.21 to grab the bronze, ahead of Bahamas (3:00.34).

Saturday's 4x400m victory handed T&T a Pan Am Games relay title for the very first time.

The incredible run from Cedenio capped off a superb showing from Team T&T at Toronto 2015. The reigning world junior 400m champion's never-say-die attitude carried the country to three gold medals, three silver and two bronze, bettering the country's previous best Pan Am performance of two gold, four silver, one bronze at the 2003 Games in Dominican Republic.

T&T ended the 2015 Games in 15th spot on the medal table, just one rung below Jamaica (three gold, four silver, two bronze). United States topped the table with 103 gold medals, 81 silver and 81 bronze. Canada (78 gold, 69 silver, 70 bronze) and Brazil (41 gold 40 silver, 60 bronze) were second and third, respectively.

“This feels real good,” said Solomon. “After all the races this week, gold and a medal bonus is a nice way to top it off.”

Quow, Solomon, Mayers and Cedenio will get a US$9,000 payout from the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee's (TTOC) 10Golds24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation fund.

T&T also medalled in Saturday's men's 4x100m relay, Rondel Sorrillo, Keston Bledman, Emmanuel Callender and Dan-Neil Telesford combining for bronze, albeit belated.

Anchorman Telesford crossed the line fourth, but a protest was filed against Canada by United States, Brazil and T&T for a lane violation. According to the information coming out of Toronto, the protest was initially thrown out, and Canada got gold.

However, about two hours after the 8.05pm race, there was news that the Canadians were in fact disqualified, and bronze was awarded to Sorrillo, Bledman, Callender and Telesford.

T&T clocked 38.69 seconds to finish just behind silver medallists Brazil (38.68). Canada's disqualification handed gold to United States in 38.27.

And in the women's 4x400m relay, Janeil Bellille, Romona Modeste, Alena Brooks and Sparkle McKnight combined for seventh spot in 3:33.31. United States struck gold with a 3:25.68 clocking, finishing ahead of Jamaica (3:27.27) and Canada (3:27.74).

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Sunday July 26th, Toronto, Canada– Pan Am Silver Medallist in the 110metre hurdles, Mikel Thomas will carry the Trinidad and Tobago flag at tonight’s closing ceremony.  The ceremony will feature hip-hop artist Kanye West, rapper PitBull and Canadian singer Serena Ryder. Ryder will be performing the catchy official song for the 2015 Pan American Games, “Together We Are One.”

Upon learning that he would carry the Trinidad and Tobago flag at the ceremony, Thomas said, “It would be an honour.” He later tweeted, “Blessings keep flowing. Over joyed to announce I will have the honour of being our flag bearer at tonight’s closing ceremony. So Grateful.”

Speaking of Thomas’s selection, Chef de Mission for Trinidad and Tobago Diane Henderson said, “We are thrilled with his performance at the Games. It displayed discipline, dedication and determination. His performance will serve as an inspiration to many to persevere with their sport.”

The ceremony will feature fireworks, 500 costumes made from 3,000 yards of fabric, with 510 volunteers making up the show's cast, 150 broadcast cameras and 300 lights. The game will also be formally handed over to Lima, Peru, which will host the next Pan Am Games in 2019.

Trinidad and Tobago ended this year’s Pan Am Games ranked 15th with eight medals (3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze). It is our highest ever medal haul at a Pan American Games, surpassing the previous record of seven medals.

Friday July 24th, Toronto, Canada– Olympic Gold Medallist, and National Record Holder in the javelin Keshorn Walcott won Trinidad and Tobago’s second gold medal at the Pan Am Games in the men’s javelin competition. Walcott’s second throw of 83.27 was enough to secure the top spot. This was an expected victory for Walcott who entered the competition ranked second in the world, having reset his own national record while setting a new meet record of 90.16 at the Diamond League Meeting Athletissima in Lausanne, Switzerland earlier this month.

Following his win, Walcott said, “ I knew I was the favourite so I tried to come out and give the fans here a good show. I didn’t go all out because the main focus for me is the world championships. I had some technique to work on and I believe I improved it during today’s competition.”

In the men’s 100m hurdles, Mikel Thomas picked up the silver medal, setting a new national record of 13.17 in the process. Following the race, Thomas could hardly contain his joy saying, “I’m still trying to gather myself from it. It was all God because I didn’t have enough strength.” Thomas had to run the final twice following a recall in the first race in which he tumbled coming over the last hurdle. Speaking of the re run he said, “That re-run, I ran full out and I felt it. The thing about hurdles is, because you have ten obstacles in front of you, you really lock out. You’re really focusing. People fault all the time. If someone stops running, I’m not supposed to react to that.”

Trinidad and Tobago’s medal total at this year’s Pan Am Games now stands at six thanks to the efforts of Walcott, Thomas, Cedenio, Cleopatra Borel, Njisane Phillip and George Bovell. All the medallists will receive bonuses from the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee’s (TTOC) #10Golds24 Athlete Welfare and Preparation fund.

In the women’s 200m final, Reyare Thomas finished seventh in a time of 23.32. In relay qualification, the quarter mile quartet of LaLonde Gordon, Renny Quow, Emmanuel Mayers and Jarrin Solomon ran a season’s best of 3.01.58 in advancing to the final. The women’s quartet of Janeil Belille, Romona Modeste, Alena Brooks and Sparkle McKnight also ran a season’s best of 3.31.21 to advance to the finals.

In the 4x100 relay semi finals, the male quartet of Mikhel Thomas, Rondel Sorillo, Emmanuel Callendar and Dan-Neil Telesford finished first in semi final 2 in a time of 38.52 to advance to tomorrows final.  Following the race, Coach of the 4x100 relay team, former national sprinter and a Pan Am silver medallist in the relay, Niconnor Alexander said, “The guys went out there and executed everything we practiced. I could not have asked for a better race.”

Callendar added, “Our intention was just to make it to the finals and have a safe pass of the baton as we are a relatively young team, so we’re really satisfied with our performance.”

The female quartet of Kamaria Durant, Kelly Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett and Reyare Thomas did not advance to the finals, following a failed baton exchange between Baptiste and Hackett. After the race Hackett said, “I probably went before time because I heard her (Baptiste) saying slow down, slow down, but we were comfortable heading into the race. We just need to practice more and build up our chemistry.”

Callendar echoed these sentiments saying, “It’s sad they didn’t get the baton around the track because once they do they will be a force to be reckoned with.”

Tomorrow Trinidad & Tobago will have the chance to equal or better its Pan Am Games record of 7 medals in the 4x100 and 4x400 relay finals. Emile Abraham will also compete in the cycling men’s road race and the men’s field hockey team face Cuba in the 7^th -8^th round match.