T&T swimmer Nikoli Blackman won his second bronze and first individual medal of the second edition of the Junior Pan American Games when he finished joint third with Brazilian Pedro Sansone in the men’s 50m freestyle final in Asuncion, Paraguay on Wednesday.
Competing from lane three in the eight-man final, which also featured T&T’s Zarek Wilson in lane eight at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, 20-year-old Blackman had the second slowest reaction time of 0.65 seconds but recovered considerably to finish strongly in a time of 22.32 seconds, the same as his University of Tennessee swimming team-mate Sansone, who had the second fastest reaction time to the starter of 0.60.
Finishing ahead of the duo were their ‘Tennessee Vols’ teammates, Brazilian Guilherme Carib, who scorched the field in 21.72 seconds, a new games record mark, after he had the fastest reaction time of 0.56, while Bahamian Lamar Taylor, the fourth University of Tennessee swimmer in the final, got silver in 22.11.
The other finishers in the final were Venezuela’s Jorge Otaiza in the fifth spot with a time of 22.53, followed by Honduran Gabriel Martinez (22.72), Mexico’s Alfredo Velazquez (22.91) and 20-year-old Wilson in 23.07.
Earlier on in the morning session, Blackman ended in the second spot in the fifth and final men’s 50m freestyle heat in 22.47 seconds to trail his 100m freestyle winner, Caribe, who won in 22.37, with his countryman Sansone third in 22.65, followed by Otaiza in 22.69, and Wilson, fifth in 22.97, to secure a spot in the A-final.
Taylor stormed to victory in heat four from lane four in a top time of 22.32 seconds, with Velazquez second in 22.97 and Colombia’s Frank Solano third in 23.15.
Amari Ash was the other T&T swimmer in action and ended eighth in the fifth and final women’s 50m freestyle heat in 27.69 seconds to be ranked 25th overall from the field of 38 swimmers.
Today, Zuri Ferguson will try to end her campaign with a medal when she lines up in the first of three heats of the women’s 200 individual medley.
On Sunday, the second day of competition, the quartet of Blackman, Wilson, Zachary Anthony and Matamoro combined for a time of three minutes, 20.38 seconds for T&T’s first bronze medal of the competition in the men’s 4x100m freestyle, while the women’s cycling Team Sprint trio of Phoebe Sandy, Makaira Wallace and Kyra Williams and the men’s Team Sprint team of Danell James, Jelani Nedd and Ryan D’Abreau both won bronze on Monday night.
Overall, T&T has now won six medals at two combined editions of the Junior Pan American Games, following Kelsey Daniel’s silver in the men’s long jump and Tyriq Horsford’s bronze in the men’s javelin four years ago in Cali, Colombia, at the inaugural Junior Pan Am Games.
James was disqualified in the match sprint quarters
T&T cyclist Danell James was unfortunately disqualified in the best-of-three men’s match sprint quarterfinal against Argentina’s Alejo Betique of the match sprint to miss out on a chance at medalling.
When the men’s sprint flying 200m qualifiers pedalled off in the morning, James was the fifth fastest qualifier in 10.299 seconds at an average speed of 69.910 km/h, while compatriot Jelani Nedd was tenth best in 10.509 at an average speed of 68.513 km/h.
Colombian Nicolas Olivera, with a time of 9.934 at an average speed of 72.478, and his countryman Francisco Jaramillo, with a time of 9.952 at an average speed of 72.347 km/h, were the top two qualifiers overall and the only riders under the ten-second barrier, while Venezuela’s Alberto Torres was third best in 10.083 at an average speed of 71.407 km/h, with Betique fourth in 10.194 at an average speed of 70.630.
In the round of 16, James (10.711) won his ride-off against the eighth-fastest qualifier, Venezuelan Sergio Garces (10.761), to advance to the quarterfinals, while Nedd (11.490) came up second best versus another Venezuelan, Torres (10.777), and then contested the second and final repechage, at which stage he bowed out after a second-place finish in 10.713 to trail Argentina’s Inaki Serrano (10.690), with Cuban Maikel Cifran third in 10.743.
In the quarterfinals, James faced off with Betique, and after losing out in the first ride, he stormed back with a victory in the second ride after the latter was disqualified to set up a third and decisive ride.
However, after winning the ride, James was unfortunately disqualified, handing Betique the win and a spot in the semifinals.
In the opening ride, Betique won in 10.582 seconds, with James 0.035 seconds behind, before James staved off defeat by taking the second ride after Betique was relegated for dangerous riding during the race.
But, in the winner-take-all third ride, the T&T cyclist then relegated himself for not having held his line during the last 200 m of his race to hand the South American the semifinal spot.
In the other quarterfinal match-ups, Torres swept Mexico’s Jafet Lopez in two straight rides with winning times of 10.505 and 11.467, respectively, while Jaramillo eased past Mexican Etan Nuno also in two straight rides in 11.256 and 10.873, respectively, and Olivera won 2-0 over Serrano via wins in 10.360 and 10.682, respectively.
Today, T&T’s Makaira Wallace and Phoebe Sandy will return to the track for the start of the individual women’s sprint, flying 200m, after they combined with Kyra Williams for a bronze medal in the women’s team sprint on Monday night.
Calypso Stickmen face Canada in must-win match
T&T’s Calypso Stickmen will go into their final round-robin match in Pool B against Canada from 9.30 am, needing nothing less than a win at the National Hockey Centre to advance to the medal round.
In their two matches to date, T&T was beaten 4-1 by Chile before rebounding to pip Mexico 2-1 to stay in contention for a medal.
Going into today’s match, Canada sits top of the four-team pool with a plus-one goal difference, the same as Chile, but ahead due to their head-to-head result, followed by Mexico and T&T at the bottom with a minus-two goal difference.
This after the Canadians recovered from their 4-3 loss to Mexico in their opener with a 2-0 blanking of Chile to set up an intriguing final day of round-robin matches in the pool with Chile facing Mexico two hours later for a spot in the semifinals as well.
In Pool A, Argentina are certain of qualification to the semifinals as group leaders with a maximum of six points from their two matches after lopsided victories over Brazil 11-0 and the USA 8-0, with the Americans beating Paraguay 6-1 in their opener to sit in the second spot with three points, while Paraguay and Brazil drew 1-1.
