The energy in the stadium was electric as the 2025 CARIFTA Games officially got underway in Trinidad and Tobago at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo. Team Trinidad and Tobago wasted no time making their presence felt. Saturday's Day 1 saw a mix of grit, heartbreak, and glory, capped off by five hard-earned medals – three gold, one silver, and one bronze – pointing to a bright future for the red, white, and black.
At the start of it all was Da Shaun Lezama, who delivered a clutch performance in the under-20 boys’ 400m final, claiming bronze in a time of 47.43 seconds. It was more than just a medal; it was redemption. Lezama represented T&T in the 2024 Carifta but fell short in the semifinals. Fast forward to this year, and the young sprinter returned with fire, confidence, and clear intent.
“It was to come out and do better than last year; last year was my first-time rookie mistake. This year, I told myself not to do that again and to do my best, and you can see it, that I redeemed myself,” Lezama said.
Lezama held his composure in lane two on Saturday’s afternoon session showed just how far he’s come. Over the first 300 metres he made up the stagger so that coming out of the final bend he was within striking distance of a medal. Bahamian Zion Miller won in 46.51 seconds, and Guyana’s Malachi Austin clocked 46.54 seconds in third.
That was the medal breakthrough Team TTO needed.
In the very next race on the track, O’Shea Cummings lit up the stadium with a confident run in the under-17 girls 1500m, claiming the first gold for T&T in a time of four minutes, 44.61 seconds. For most of the race, she stalked Haitian rival and race leader Aisha Wajid, moving alongside and then ahead of Wajid with about 40 metres left, and there was no stopping her then.
“I am very proud of myself; I think I executed very, very well. I only had one thought (before the race): just stick with the person in front of me if there is any, and I know I can execute coming down on the last hundred-metre stretch,” said Cummings after the race.
Wajid placed second in four minutes, 45.20 seconds; Jamaica’s Denique Palmer placed third in four minutes, 47.50 seconds; and another T&T athlete, Shian Lewis, was fourth in four minutes, 53.00.
Minutes later, Christopher Sammy brought home the second gold and third medal in consecutive races for T&T by winning the under-17 boys’ 1500m in even more convincing fashion. Sammy clocked four minutes, 09.65 in a well-executed run that saw him all alone and ahead of the chasing pack for well over 300 metres.
By the time he rounded the final bend for home, Sammy was already celebrating, as his nearest rival was more than 20 metres behind.
“It is a wonderful feeling to be at the top of the Caribbean; it is like a dream come true, and hopefully I can move on to do better, but this is more than enough for the while,” Sammy said.
Bermuda’s Cameron Adkins had to settle for silver in four minutes, 12.86 seconds, while Luke Plummer of Jamaica was third in four minutes, 13.54 seconds.
Keneisha Shellbourne added T&T’s gold medal count on day one with a strong showing in the under-20 girls’ triple jump, covering a distance of 12.98m to seal the win. She beat Sabrina Atkinson’s 12.83, with the Jamaican edging out French Guiana’s Leane Alfred, who took the bronze with a best leap of 12.83 metres.
T&T also claimed a medal in the 100m sprints, with last year’s boys under-20 4x100m relay anchorman Dylan Woodruffe placing second in the boys under-20 final.
Explaining later that he did not hear the starter’s pistol, Woodruffe overcame a slow start which had him in seventh position with 30 metres gone and made up significant ground to snatch a medal. Making the run more special, his time of 10.30 seconds eclipsed his previous personal best of 10.40.
“This year was a much better process than last year because last year I dealt with some injuries, but this year I have been pretty good, so, I mean, being in the home atmosphere brings more of a motivation, more hunger, and that helped a lot on this run,” Woodruffe explained.
The event’s winner was Jamal Stephenson of Jamaica in 10.24 seconds, and Ethan Sam of Grenada placed third in 10.41 seconds.
Meanwhile, the Fredrick twins, Sole and Sanna, finished off the podium in the under-20 girls 100m final. Placing fifth and sixth, respectively.
In the under-17 boys 100m final, Alex Seepersad took fourth with 10.74 seconds, and in the girls’ version of the event, Mikayla Granderson placed fifth in 12.22 seconds.
In the Under-20 girls’ 400m, Kayla Charles placed seventh in 56.23 seconds, while Eden Chee-Wah came just shy of a medal in the Under-17 girls’ 400m, placing fourth in 56.48 seconds.
Brion Scott mirrored that result in the under-17 boys’ 400m, finishing fourth in 48.88 seconds.
In the Under-20 boys’ 1500m, Omare Thompson placed fourth in a time of four minutes, 02.79 seconds, while teammate Darius Harding finished eighth in four minutes, 13.50 seconds. On the girls’ side, Kayleigh Forde gave a solid account of herself, clocking four minutes, 47.79 for fourth in the under-20 1500 m final.
Tyrique Vincent is currently the leader in the under-20 boys decathlon with 3719 points overall after completing five events. Moving into Day 2, he remains in strong medal contention.
