TRINIDAD AND Tobago concluded its campaign at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games with a fourth place finish in the men's 3x3 basketball shootout on Sunday.
At the Pan American courts in Cancha, Colombia on Sunday, national player Ahkeel Boyd scored seven baskets and finished just outside the medals of the individual shootout.
Winning gold was Cuban Jovanka Cereijo (15), followed by Argentinian Sofia Acevedi (eight) and Mexican Herman Arvizu (seven) respectively.
Earlier on the final day, TT swimmers Graham Chatoor and Nikoli Blackman clocked personal best times in a one-two finish in the men's 400 metre freestyle B final. Chatoor touched the wall in four minutes 8.87 seconds while Blackman finished in 4:08.87. Cuban Adrian Foya (4:09.22) was third.
Additionally, the national quartet of Chatoor, Blackman, Kael Yorke and Zarek Wilson placed eighth in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay in 3:34.11. Brazil (3:17.14), Mexico (3:24.02) and Colombia (3:24.40) were the top three finishers respectively.
On Saturday night, the men's 3x3 basketball team finished eighth overall after losing their final match 22-12 against Argentina. Earlier on, TT lost their quarter-final tie 19-14 against Chile and was again defeated by Brazil 21-12.
And on Friday, female field athlete Ianna Roach placed tenth in the women's shot put. She threw the sphere 12.96m.
TT concluded its inaugural Junior Pan Am Games quest with two medals - silver in the men's long jump by Kelsey Daniel and bronze in the men's javelin courtesy Tyriq Horsford, both Tobagonians.
A statement issued on Saturday by Panam Sports president Neven Ilic said he was happy to successfully host this debut event.
His summary of the Games was positive, not only in terms of the outcomes on the field of play but also in regards to biosecurity.
Ilic praised all delegations, media and the general public for respecting the measures adopted by the organisation, such as the use of a bubble environment to avoid outbreaks among participating countries and teams.
He said, 'We are very happy above all because of the feedback we have received from the athletes themselves. Sometimes that process of making the national teams takes many years of effort, but here the doors are opening for many of them.
"The Games have been held at a high level and the facilities are world-class. Competitors have performed outstandingly. Several Pan American and even junior world records have been set, and that makes me very happy.'
After two years of intense work by the organising committee and after having changed the date on two occasions, Ilic was pleased to deliver a world-class event after facing many difficulties.
'This has not been easy. We all know that we are in a pandemic, and that we have lived through two years of uncertainty. But I want to highlight what the government of Colombia, the Government of the Valle del Cauca, the Mayor of Cali and ourselves as a team have accomplished.
'We were all aware that we wanted to make this effort, that we did not want to stop our hard
