If you watched the Turks and Caicos’ CARIFTA trials earlier this month, then you would have witnessed remarkable performances by our athletes competing in the two-day event.
Despite the cancellation of the 2021 CARIFTA games, great accomplishments rose from the event, with three athletes setting a cumulation of four national records.
What are the new National Records?
Tanesia Gardiner, an athlete competing in the Under 17 Female category, set a new High Jump record of 1.68m. This broke the previous records for both the Under 17 Female (previously 1.50m held by Israel Ramsey) and the Under 20 Female (previously 1.65m held by Sanadia Forbes) categories.
In the Under 17 Male Shot Put event, Antwon Walkin set a record of 14.01m raising the previous record of 12.94m held by Darvion Rigby. In a similar fashion, Tayjoe Oppong who held the previous record of 13.20m for Shot Put in the Under 20 category, absolutely shattered this with a new high of 16.02m.
Congratulatory remarks to the three athletes came from Mr. Jarett Forbes, Director of the Turks and Caicos Islands Sports Commission. Mr. Forbes expressed his excitement about the competition and stated that although CARIFTA 2021 is cancelled, the athletes’ performances were “nothing short of spectacular”.
President of the Turks and Caicos Islands Amateur Athletics Association (TCAAA) Ms. Edith Skippings, saluted the three athletes for beating their own personal bests and setting new national records. She expressed, “The TCAAA is extremely proud of Tayjoe, Tanesia and Antwon”.
Hon. Rachel Taylor, Minister responsible for sports, attributed success to the coaching, the athletes’ inner desire to succeed and their self-discipline.
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the 2021 CARIFTA Trials live, you can watch the playback here.
