It was another sterling day's performance by T&T's athletes at the Pan American Games in which three more medals were added to the tally in Lima, Peru on Saturday.
On the penultimate day of the 16-day event, javelin thrower Keshorn Walcott and cyclist Teneil Campbell copped silver in their respective events, while the Men's 4x400m relay team of Dwight St Hillaire, Jereem Richards, Deon Lendore and Machel Cedenio, bagged bronze at the Athletics Stadium at National Sporting Village.
T&T's medal haul has swelled to 13 (two gold in cycling; eight silver - four in athletics, two in road cycling, one in track cycling, one in rowing and three bronze - in boxing, swimming and athletics; which is a Pan Am Games record haul. T&T previous best was eight in 2015.
There were high expectations from the 2012 Olympic javelin champion, who had to settle for silver. He was disappointed that he could not defend his title after opening with an impressive 83.55 metres distance, which turned out to be his best.
"I feel 50-50 about it. It's a little bit disappointing," said Walcott. "I wanted to go a little bit further but I have been struggling for the past few months with some problems in my foot so I'm just glad to get a medal."
Walcott also registered throws of 82.92 and 81.44 in his second and third attempts. He fouled the next two efforts before closing his campaign with a 75.54m effort.
"Hopefully I can get better by the next two months to come, I'm looking forward to the World Championships.
Grenada's Anderson Peters secured the gold medal with a huge first throw, breaking the Pan Am record with his 87.31m effort. So good was this throw that it earned him the top spot on the podium.
"I am happy for him," said Walcott acknowledging the winner. "He is coming along really well. It's good to see two people from the Caribbean throwing well."
Taking the bronze was St Lucia's Albert Reynolds with a personal best 82.19m throw.
T&T's other thrower Shakeil Waithe was the sixth-place finisher with his best distance, measuring 76.15m. His other mark was 71.80m while he fouled the other three attempts and did not take his last throw.
As the final javelin spears landed ending the competition, then came the battle for the top spot in the Men's 4x400m relay.
Meanwhile, the 4x400 metres relay team got out well and anchor Cedenio was in a prime position, making his move at the 300m mark to take the lead ahead of the American and Columbian teams, but he could not maintain a distance and fell back into third, crossing in three minutes and 02.25 seconds.
"We came expecting gold," said a disappointed Cedenio after the race adding that the weather was cold. Coming off our championship last week some of the guys did rounds last week and you know to come of run rounds this week was kind of tough."
Concerning his hamstring injury, he said: "It did affect my speed because the hamstring is everything about where your speed comes from, so I kind of felt a bit flat but my main focus now is World Champs. So I'm just going to relax, rehab and get ready for World Champs."
IN CYCLING
Earlier, Campbell put a fine race together to cross the finish line second in the women's road race yesterday at the San Miguel Circuit. She clocked 2:19:50 to be edged by Cuban Arlenis Sierra (2:19:49). In third place was Mexico's Lizbeth Salazar (2:19:50).
The young local cyclist set such a high standard for herself that she yearned to reach the top spot on the podium.
"It's bittersweet because I wanted to win, but it's all I had today," she said after her silver-medal performance.
She said, "It was hectic in the finish. I was just alone and I couldn't really go in the middle because the other teams had their riders left and right, so I knew if I switch lane there was a possibility of a crash so I just tried to stay in the rim and punch it as hard as I can, but I'm happy I held on for second. It was a bit of a battle coming home because at one point I was out of the medals. I had to continue squeezing and I end up getting silver, so I'm happy."
Campbell hopes her success will encourage more T&T young people to get involved in cycling.
"It is great for my country T&T. I hope it inspires the next generation to try the sport and hopefully back home start getting more support from corporate sponsors. I'm on the right path of changing the thinking of some of the people. I came from far, really from the bottom and I'm continuing to progress. I'm a multiple Caribbean champion."
Campbell, 21, leaves the Games a double silver medallist after finishing runner-up in the women's time trial on Wednesday at the same venue after clocking 24: 50.24, to follow winner and five-time Track Cycling World Championships champion, USA's Chloe Dygertwho clocked 23:36.51.
She heads back to Europe to continue her training with the Olympic Games clearly in her focus.
Campbell who is focusing on qualifying for Tokoyo Olympic Games explained that she is heading back to Switzerland and will take a couple of days off before joining her team for a race in Belgium.
She continued, "I actually move back up the rankings a little bit but I still need to get a little more points to be in the top 30 by the end of this month. It would be really good for me but I still have to keep the pressure on the pedals because the window closes in October and it's still a long way to go."
T&T's other cyclist Alexi Costa placed 21st with a time of 2:20:24.
IN HOCKEY
T&T men's hockey team was able to exact revenge on Cuba to emerge the fifth-best team in the Pan Am competition
The national "Stickmen" defeated the Cubans, 2-1 in their fifth to sixth match playoff.
It was a combined offensive effort from the T&T men led by captain Marcus James and Teague Marcano and some fantastic saves from goal-keeper Karlos Stephens to helped register the victory.
James opened the scoring in the tenth minute, converting a penalty corner to put the T&T ahead, 1-0. Marcano extended then lead after completing a penalty corner.
However, Iraidys Calderon managed to pull one back for Cuba in the 22 minutes, but neither side could add to their respective score and the T&T held on to win by the one-goal margin.
IN SWIMMING
Graham Chatoor established a new national record when he won Final one of the Men's 1,500m freestyle timed final when he touched in 16:13.84 seconds. He bettered a 23-year record by former Olympian Sebastian Paddington (16:19.43).
He dropped out of medal contention as his effort placed him seventh overall after second timed Final. The third final was carded for last night.
In the Women's 200m Individual Medley (IM), Gabriela Donahue placed seventh in heat two with 2:27.66 to be 18th overall.
On Thursday night, Dylan Carter closed off his participation at the Games with a win in the men's 50m freestyle B final when he clocked 22.67 seconds.
IN GOLF
Local golfer Ysabelle Lawrence struggled on day three on the course at the Lima Golf Club, but will seek to improve her performance today in round four of the women's competition.
She remained in 29th spot following round three of play, as she was 26 over par on a par 71 course and shot 239 over three days with rounds of 80, 80 and 79.