National swimmer Nikoli Blackman made it two individual gold medals in two events before he swam the anchor leg of the 4x100m freestyle relay team as Trinidad and Tobago bagged two more gold medals at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games at the Juan Pablo Duarte Aquatic Center in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Wednesday night.
The two gold medals carried T&T's haul to eight medals, three gold medals all won in swimming and five cycling bronzes.
The winner of the men’s 50m freestyle on Tuesday night in 21.98 seconds, Blackman first won the men's 100m freestyle final before he combined with Liam Carrington, Dylan Carter, and Zarek Wilson for the 4x100m freestyle gold medal.
In the men's 100m freestyle, Blackman was a comfortable winner in 49.15 seconds, 22.92 seconds, well clear of the Dominican Republic's Javier Nunez, who touched the wall in 49.43, with Venezuela's Jorge Otaiza taking the bronze in 49.44 seconds.
In the morning heats, Blackman was second to the wall in the fifth and final heat from lane four in 50.06 seconds, finishing behind Iga, who won in 49.67, with Otaiza third in 50.29.
In the men's 4x100m freestyle final, Carrington (49.30) and Carter (48.47) and Wilson (49.81) maintained the lead, which allowed Blackman to race home in the final leg in 49.81 seconds to secure the gold medal for T&T in three minutes, 16.91 seconds. Mexico ended second in 3:18.06 seconds and Venezuela third in 3:19.69 seconds.
<Campbell pedals to fifth cycling bronze>
At the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center Velodrome, 30-year-old cyclist Akil Campbell snatched a bronze medal in the men's omnium after a second-place finish in the points race.
Going into the fourth and final event, Campbell was sixth on the standings with 98 points from his first three events to trail Mexico's Ricardo Pena (112); Guatemalan Dorian Monterroso (104); Colombians Brayan Sanchez and Venezuelan Clever Martinez, both with 102; and Cuban Ricardo Delgado, with 100.
This meant Campbell needed to produce a win or secure enough sprint points ahead of his major rivals to earn a medal.
Campbell rode to a second-place finish behind Cuban Delgado, who picked up 35 points, one point ahead of the T&T rider, while Sanchez was third with 30 points, Pena fourth with 28, and, crucially, Martinez fifth with only 18 points.
In the end, Campbell's final tally was 132 points to secure the bronze medal ahead of Sanchez. Pena was the gold medal winner with 140 points, and Delgado took home the silver with 135 points.
Campbell had a fourth-place finish in the scratch race (30 laps/10 km) with 34 points.
In the tempo race, which was also contested over 30 laps (10 km), the 30-year-old Campbell finished down the field in the seventh spot.
In the elimination race, Campbell ended in the third spot with 36 points, with Martinez in the second spot with 38 points.
T&T's other cyclists in action on the day, Phoebe Sandy and Kyra Williams, did not get among the medals in the women's individual sprint.
In the flying 200m women's sprint qualifiers, Sandy was the seventh fastest qualifier overall from the 16 entrants in 11.700 seconds, while Williams was tenth in 11.877 seconds.
In the round of 16, Sandy (12.093 seconds) got the better of compatriot Williams (12.159) in their one-off ride to book her spot in the quarterfinals against Colombian Stefany Cuadrado.
However, Sandy was no match for the South American speedster and was beaten in two straight rides.
<Calypso Stickmen blanked Barbados 5-0>
Nicholas Siu Butt scored a pair of second-half field goals as T&T's senior men’s hockey team made it two straight wins in
Group A with a 5-0 blanking of Barbados at the field hockey stadium.
T&T took the lead against the Barbadians in the 11th minute through Caleb Guiseppi, and four minutes later, Jordan Reynos extended the advantage to 2-0 to end the quarter.
In the second 15-minute quarter, Nicholas Whiteman pushed the margin to 3-0.
Four minutes into the third quarter, Siu Butt made it 4-0, and a minute from the end, he scored T&T's fifth item to close the match in their efforts to add to their lone gold medal triumph in 2002.
In Pool A, Mexico defeated Guatemala 5-0. T&T will play winless Guatemala at 2 pm, and Mexico will face Barbados in the 10 am opener.
<T&T beach volleyballers play for 11th spot>
T&T's men's and women's beach volleyball teams will contest the playoffs for positions 13th to 16th after they both ended in the fourth positions in their five-team round-robin groups at Malecon Park.
This was after national men’s duo Jahreef Miguel and Jerome Morrison ended third in Group D round-robin play with a 16-21, 14-21 loss to Ernest Broaster and Francis Hauze of Belize for a 1-3 record, while the national women’s team of Malika Davidson and Apphia Glasgow also ended round-robin play in Group C with a 1-3 win-loss record after a 10-21, 10-21 defeat to Hondurans Reizel Bruhier and Shanna Rivera.
T&T medal winners
Gold:
Nikoli Blackman (swimming) - men's 50m freestyle
Nikoli Blackman (swimming) - men's 100m freestyle
Liam Carrington, Dylan Carter, Zarek Wilson, Nikoli Blackman (swimming) - men's 4x100m freestyle relay,
Bronze:
Kwesi Browne (track cycling) - men's individual sprint
Teniel Campbell (road cycling) - women's time trial
Akil Campbell (track cycling) - men's omnium
Kwesie Browne, Danell James, Ryan D'Abreau - (track cycling) - men's team sprint
Teniel Campbell, Kyra Williams, Phoebe Sandy - (track cycling) - women's team sprint
