Andwuelle Wright impressively copped T&T's first gold medal at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-18 and U-23 Championships in Mexico on Friday.
Wright leaped 8.25 metres to win the men's U-23 long jump and broke his own national record of 8.23m which bettered his coach Wendell Williams' record of 8.14m last year and also the Championship record (8.03m).
"I feel fantastic," said Wright. "It is a very, very good feeling for me to win the first gold medal at the NACAC Championships for T&T"
His massive jump also surpassed both the Olympic Games and IAAF World Championship standards.
Wright said, "I have trained for this. It is very good to know that I have broken two records, the meet record which is 8.03 and the national record which is 8.23m and also makes the world standard for the World Championship and the Olympics. I am very proud of my achievement."
T&T's Che Richards also competed in the event and placed fifth overall with a jump of 7.69m. He was in third place until the fourth round.
Over on the track in the 100m dash, T&T had four sprinters advancing to their respective finals including Jerod Elcock, Devin Augustine, Shaniqua Bascombe and Leah Bertrand.
In the Boys U-23 race, Elcock ran a personal best time of 10.21 seconds to place third in the first semifinal heat to qualify for the final.
Augustine and teammate Jaydon Moore faced the starter in the Boys U-18 100m but was only the former progressing after crossing third in heat one of two in a time of 10.73. Moore placed fourth in the second heat in 10.93.
In the Girls U-18 100m, Shaniqua Bascombe, the reigning Carifta Games 200m gold medallist, finished third with 11.90 behind Jamaican Briana Williams (11.53) in the first semifinal heat. Bertrand placed fifth in the second semifinal heat and her time of 12.05 was quick enough to earn her the final spot in the medal race.
