Jamaica’s Megan Tapper claimed the country’s first bronze medal in the women’s 100m hurdles after battling to the line in Tokyo on Saturday.
Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who is unbeaten this season, followed up an Olympic record of 12.26 in the semi-finals by running 12.36 to win her first Olympic gold medal, five years after hitting a hurdle and crashing out at the semi-final stage in Rio.
Tapper ran 12.55 to win the bronze medal. The world record holder, Keni Harrison of the USA, won silver in 12.52 to also secure her first Olympic medal.
Bahamian Devynne Charlton finished 6th in 12.74 and Jamaica’s Brittany Anderson finished 8th in 13.24.
Men’s Long Jump
The Caribbean secured two medals in the men’s long jump after Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria and Maykel Masso finished second and third with jumps of 8.41 and 8.21 respectively.
The gold medalist, Miltiadis Tentoglu of Greece, also jumped 8.41 but was determined as the outright winner on countback because his second-longest jump of 8.15 was longer than Echevarria’s second-longest of 8.09.
Jamaica’s reigning world champion, Tajay Gayle, valiantly made an attempt to compete after picking up a left knee injury in qualifying. Jumping with heavy strapping on that knee, Gayle fouled his first two attempts before registering 7.69 on his third to finish 11th overall.
Women’s Triple Jump
Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica narrowly missed out on a medal. Ricketts finished fourth after leaping out to 14.84 on her fourth-round attempt.
The Jamaican was in third place going into the fifth round until Spain’s Ana Peleteiro produced a national record of 14.87 to overtake Ricketts and secure the bronze medal.
The competition also saw Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas win her first Olympic gold medal by jumping to a new world record of 15.67 metres, breaking the previous mark of 15.50 set at the 1995 World Championships by Ukrainian Inessa Kravets.
The other Jamaican in the final, Kimberly Williams, finished eighth with a jump of 14.51.
Men’s 400 metres Hurdles
Only one Caribbean athlete advanced to the final. Both Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands and Jaheel Hyde of Jamaica lined up in semi-final 3 and with 100 metres to go, they both looked in good shape to get to the final.
Unfortunately, Hyde hit the eighth hurdle badly and fell, taking him out of contention.
He ended up jogging to the finish in a time of 1:27.38.
McMaster went on to win the semi-final in 48.26 and advance to his first Olympic final.
Men’s 100m
No Caribbean men advanced to the final of the men’s 100 metres as Jamaica’s Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville both came up short in their semi-final races.
Blake finished sixth in semi-final 1 in 10.14 and Seville finished fourth in semi-final 2 in 10.09.
The final eventually saw Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs take gold in 9.80 ahead of the USA’s Fred Kerley who ran 9.84 for second and Canada’s Andre DeGrasse who ran 9.89 for third, his second successive Olympic 100 metres bronze medal.
All three men recorded personal bests in the race.
Women’s 1500 Metres
Jamaica’s Aisha Praught-Leer competed in heat 2 of the women’s 1500 metres despite injury and finished 13th in a time of 4:15.31.
Women’s 200 Metres
Four Caribbean women advanced to the semi-finals of the 200 metres.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas finished second in heat 1 with a time of 22.40 to advance.
100 metres silver medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was next to confirm her spot in the next round, comfortably winning heat 2 in 22.22.
Heat 5 was won by Bahamian Anthonique Strachan in 22.76 but the biggest story from that race was Shericka Jackson of Jamaica.
The 100 metres bronze medalist failed to advance after easing up at the line and being passed Italy’s Dalia Kaddari.
100 metres gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica was very conservative in heat 6, finishing third in 22.86 to secure her spot in the semi-finals.
Jamaica to host T&T U-17s for two friendly games in week-long camp
Jamaica's Under-17 team will host their Trinidad and Tobago counterparts for two international friendly encounters this weekend.
The games, which forms part of a week-long camp for both teams, will also see the young Soca Warriors, who are scheduled to arrive in the island on Wednesday, lock horns with a local club team during their visit. The first game is scheduled for the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, CHBC on Friday at 4:00pm, while the second encounter will take place on Sunday at 9:00am.
Trinidad and Tobago will then close their visit against the youth team of a prominent club, next Tuesday.
Both the young Reggae Boyz, to be guided by former Reggae Boy midfielder Altimont "Freddy" Butler, Carlton Simmonds and Vassel Reynolds, and the Shawn Cooper-coached young Soca Warriors are preparing for the Concacaf Men's Under-17 Championship which was pushed back to 2025. The tournament was initially scheduled for August this year.
According to recently installed Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president, Kieron Edwards, this friendly initiative is in line with the TTFA’s application to the FIFA Talent Development Scheme, which aims to provide additional resources to member associations for the elite youth national teams.
Edwards insisted that there will be continuous efforts to provide opportunities for exposure and match preparation for the various national teams.
“In keeping with the executive’s mantra to strengthen partnerships and our relationship with our brothers in CFU, we are pleased to be embarking on this journey to Jamaica,” said Edwards.
“Despite the challenges, the commitment to the continued development of our high-performance programme shines through. This trip marks a pivotal step towards our U-17 team’s quest to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2025. It’s a testament to the dedication of all involved, securing this opportunity mere days after the new executive’s installation," he added.
The current T&T U-17 selection features several players who have graduated from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association High Performance Programme and competed at the CONCACAF Boys Under-15 Championship in the Dominican Republic last August, recording memorable wins against Costa Rica and Qatar.
T&T squad: Antuan Louison, Seth Hadeed, Jonathan Mason (Fatima College); Alejandro Harper, Eran Mc Leod (CIC); Nikosi Foncette, Kyron Baptiste, Josiah Simmons, Jimally Renne (Presentation College, Sando); Jasai Theophilus, Jayden Christophe (QRC); Dimitre Jones, Keston Richards (Arima North Sec); Jaydon Caprietta, Jeremiah Daniel, Adasa Richardson, Antonio Hills, Mikhail Clement (Naparima College); Salim Soanes (St Benedict’s College); Necose Moore (Chaguanas North Sec); Riquelme Phillips (Speyside High School)
Windies to test T20 World Cup readiness against South Africa, Australia in Jamaica and T&T; final squad to be named this week
With the ICC Men’s Twenty 20 World Cup now just about a month away, Darren Sammy and his West Indies team will up the tempo on preparations, before testing their readiness for the June 1-29 global showpiece, with a final warm-up match against Australia in Trinidad and Tobago.
Sammy’s final squad, which is expected to be named sometime this week, will be one of nine teams to travel to the Trinidad and Tobago in May for eight warm-up matches, four of which will take place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, while the other four is scheduled for the historic Queen’s Park Oval. The teams will arrive in twin island republic on May 21.
The revelation came from Cricket West Indies’s (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave during the recently-concluded CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, in Port of Spain.
Grave explained that the final West Indies squad will not convene in full until they travel to Jamaica at the end of May to engage South Africa in three warm-up contests. However, he pointed out that there will be a camp in Antigua prior, which will involve members of the final squad, who are not plying their trade in the Indian Premier League.
From Jamaica, the Rovman Powell-captained squad will then travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the clash against 50-over World Cup winners Australia, ahead of the tournament to be hosted in the Caribbean and United States.
West Indies, the 2012 and 2016 champions, are hunting a third T20 World Cup title.
“We’re going to have a week-long preparation camp in Antigua from May 12, before heading to Jamaica. We’re then going to leave Jamaica and come here to Trinidad and Tobago for a week’s preparation, including playing at the historic Queen’s Park Oval on May 30, in an evening fixture against one of the tournament favourites Australia,” Grave shared.
“That will probably be one of the only games in the warm-up schedule that will be ticketed, and we certainly hope that the fans here in Trinidad, and particularly those in Port of Spain, will come out and rally behind the West Indies in that warm-up match, which is the final game we’ll play before we head to Guyana for the opening game on June 2,” he added.
West Indies, who are drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, Uganda and Papua New Guinea, will open against the latter at the Guyana National Stadium on June 2.
Grave urged fans to come out and rally behind the West Indies outfit in their push to start the tournament on a high.
“Making sure we have a huge party in Georgetown, and we get off to a winning start (will be crucial). We all know in these global tournaments, confidence and momentum are important and we can think of nothing better than starting with a victory in Guyana and ending it in Barbados on June 29 with a similar victory,” Grave said.
Jaydon Hibbert delighted with strong showing at USATF Bermuda Grand Prix
Jamaica's triple jump sensation, Jaydon Hibbert, delivered a stellar performance at Sunday's USATF Bermuda Grand Prix, securing victory in the men's triple jump event with a leap of 17.33m (+4.3m/s) on his first attempt. Hibbert's remarkable achievement came using an unconventional eight-step run-up, demonstrating his exceptional skill and readiness on the field.
The world U20 record-holder continued to impress with a jump of 17.01m (+3.4) in the third round, showcasing his consistency and form. Competing for the first time since the Budapest World Championships in 2023, Hibbert opted to forego the fourth and fifth rounds, having achieved his desired performance.
Hibbert topped the field ahead of Bermuda's Jah-Nhai Perinchief, who reached 17.13m, and fellow Jamaican Jordan Scott, who secured third place with a jump of 17.05m.
Reflecting on his strategy and performance, Hibbert expressed satisfaction with his approach, stating, "I wanted to ease back into the jumps, so I started with an eight-step run-up today to reinforce muscle memory. I've been aiming for this personal record, especially after my last eight-step jump indoors at 16.7m last year. Now, I'm excited and looking forward to the rest of the season."
Fans can anticipate seeing Hibbert in action next at the highly anticipated Jamaica Invitational on May 11 and the Racers Grand Prix on June 1, where he aims to continue his impressive form.
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