TEAM manager of the TT Carifta team Jehue Gordon, a former Carifta star, made a plea to the TT public to support the national athletes as they prepare to put on another impressive display at home at the 2025 Carifta Games.
The team ended the 2024 Carifta Games, held at the Kirani James Stadium in Grenada, with a haul of 27 medals – four gold, 11 silver, and 12 bronze. TT was third in the medal standings, finishing behind Jamaica (83 medals) and Bahamas (36 medals) at the games which ended on Monday.
TT’s Janae De Gannes was given the Austin Sealy award, the prize given to the most outstanding athlete at the Carifta Games. De Gannes broke the girls Under-20 long jump Carifta record with a 6.50-metre leap, which earned her qualification for the 2024 Under-20 World Championships later this year. De Gannes added a silver medal as she was part of the girls Under-20 4x400m relay team.
Tafari Waldron (boys Under-20 5,000m), a 2023 champion, and Kadeem Chinapoo (boys Under-17 200m) were the other individual Carifta gold medallists for TT.
The TT athletes returned home yesterday to a hero’s welcome at the Piarco International Airport. Parents, siblings, and fans gathered, waving flags and singing as they waited for the athletes and TT officials.
Gordon, who won the last Austin Sealy award for TT in 2010, knows the athletes will have challenges. “I did not have everything spoon-fed to me from a very early age. Sometimes we struggle, but I am trying my best (as the manager). The (National) Association (of Athletics Administrations) is doing their best. The local sponsors – thanks to NGC, Puma, etcetera that have been on board – supporting these future stars of track and field and TT.”
Gordon, a former men’s 400m hurdles champion at Carifta, wants the athletes to have the chance to maximize their potential with the 2025 Carifta Games being held in TT. “Carifta 2025 is at home in TT. Don’t wait until the last minute to come on board to support these athletes...The team is continuously building on the foundation that we have and we could do something remarkable at home next year.
“What we need really is to understand that the future lies here in the youths of TT and we cannot wait until they are successful. We need to make sure that the facilities are in place to train,” he said.
[caption id="attachment_1074788" align="alignnone" width="1024"] National team manager Jehue Gordon.[/caption]
Gordon said he owes De Gannes and her sister a meal after making a friendly bet with them before the games. “If Janae won the gold medal I was supposed to cook for her because I like cooking.”
Gordon told De Gannes she had to break the record for him to prepare a meal for her – not just win gold. “I told her that is something out of the equation because she already won silver last year and the only way that I could cook for her is by breaking the record. To see her break the record on the first jump, they came up to me and reminded me that I had to cook for them.”
Gordon said he will be preparing curry goat for them.
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