T&T's quarter-miler Deon Lendore will be laid to rest on Thursday.
His family, friends, the local and international track and field fraternity and this country will finally get to bid farewell to the star athlete who died in a car accident on the night of February 10 in Texas, USA at the age of 29.
The funeral service will take place at the Santa Rosa RC Church in Arima at 2 pm thence to the Santa Rosa cemetery for burial according to the family spokesperson, Ashton Ford.
"The church will accept 140 persons inside. Others will be catered for outside under tents and there will be a big screen. The service can also be viewed online," said Ford on Thursday.
He added that Lendore's sister Leah Johnson will give the eulogy and expected to attend is his Texas A&M University track and field coach Pat Henry, and 4x400m teammates Jereem Richards, Dwight St Hillaire, Machel Cedenio and close friend Grenadian Olympian Lyndon Victor, who also attended Texas A&M.
The body of the late national athlete arrived last Thursday
"The family would like to send out thank you to Amery Brown, Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, for the efforts and the work he put in to get Deon home. The family encountered a lot of paperwork and red tape so they want to thank Minister Brown for his assistance."
According to Ford, Lisa Morris-Julian, Minister in the Ministry of Education and D'Abadie/O'Meara MP, Housing Minister Penelope Beckles, MP for Arima are expected to attend and Minister of Sports and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe has also received an invitation.
He added that several Mt Pleasant residents are expected to attend including the Steven King and Serron Wattley families and also members of the Abilene Wildcats track and field club.
Lendore, a native of Arima, thrived on the track in his shortened career. He was a member of the local club, Abilene Wildcats, and a former student of Queen’s Royal College before earning a scholarship to attend Texas A&M University, competed at three consecutive Olympic Games in 2012 in London, England, 2016 in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and earlier this year at the virus-delayed Tokyo 2020 in Japan. The highlight of his career was anchoring the national 4x400m relay team to a bronze medal at the London 2012 Games.
In 2016, at the World Indoor Championships in Portland, USA, he also claimed two bronze in the 400m and 4x400m relay and repeated with another bronze in the individual event, two years later at the same event in Birmingham, England (2018).
As a junior, he copped three silver medals at the Pan Am Junior Championships and a silver at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games.
Lendore, who leaves his mother Crispina Edmund, sister Leah Johnson and brother Jovan Lendore to mourn, also enjoyed a flourishing career with Texas A&M University in the NCAA, winning the famous Bowerman award in 2014.
Lendore served as a volunteer assistant coach for the past two seasons while training professionally under contract with Puma.
Deon Lendore’s career achievements
2019 - Bronze (4x400m) - Pan American Games, Lima, Peru
2018 - Bronze (400m) - World Indoor Championships, Birmingham, England
2016 - Bronze (400m) - World Indoor Championships, Portland, USA
2016 - Bronze (4x400m) - World Indoor Championships, Portland, USA
2015 - Silver (4x400m) - World Championships, Beijing, China
2012 - Bronze (4x400m) - Olympics, London, England
2011 - Gold (4x400m) Carifta Games, Montego Bay, Jamaica; 2 Silver (400m and 4X400m) Pan American Junior Championships in Miramar, USA; Silver (4x400m) CAC Championships, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
2010 - Silver 400m; Bronze 4x400, Carifta Games, George Town, Cayman Islands; Bronze 400m and Gold 4x400m CAC Juniors in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
2009 - Silver (4x400m) in Pan American Junior Championships, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain
2008 - Bronze (4x400m) Carifta Games, Basseterre, St Lucia
