media_artricles :: 2013

Cedenio, Goodridge cop First Citizens youth awards

Olympic athlete Machel Cedenio and cyclist Jodi Goodridge emerged the male and female athlete of the year, respectively, at the First Citizens Sports Foundation Youth awards ceremony, held at the Hyatt Regency, Trinidad, Port-of-Spain, on Friday.

Cedenio, who was a reserve on the T&T 4x400 metres relay team that won the bronze medal at the London Games, and placed fourth in the 400m final at the IAAF World Junior Championships held in Barcelona, Spain, got the judges’ nod for the top accolade.

Goodridge won favour with the panel for the team medal she helped bring home at the 2012 Pam American Junior Championships in the sprint held in Guatemala City. In Guatemala, Goodridge also secured a bronze medal in the women’s 500m time trial, while setting a national record of 37.86 seconds. More recently, Goodridge became the first female T&T athlete to qualify for an elite event at the Pan American Championship, when she broke the national women’s record in the flying 200m at the T&T Cycling Federation’s (TTCF) trials.

Goodridge went up against nominees, Kate Gordon (karate), Kelly Ann Arrindell (sailing), Charlotte Marie Knaggs (squash), Chelsea James (athletics), and Kimberlee John-Williams (swimming). Cedenio also faced stiff challenges from Jeremy Solozano (cricket), Dylan Carter (swimming) and Jelani Davidson (tennis).

At the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) sports awards held last month, Goodridge walked away with the junior female “Sportswoman of the Year” award. Following the presentation, Goodridge’s father, Peter Goodridge, who accepted the award, shared that his daughter already had her sights set on the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, but before that she intends to secure gold at this year’s Pan American Championship.

Goodridge (Jodi) was unable to attend the ceremony due to an eye infection, but her father expressed hope that she would recover fully in time for the Pan Am Championship. “Jodi’s goal was always to be the best female cyclist in T&T,” Goodridge said. “She was off training for a little while and the coach told her, ‘Jodi, we going for it, because it’s natural.’

She came out and she still broke the record. The next move is to continue training as hard as she can. We are looking to go other games outside the country so she will compete with other cyclists where she will improve on her cycling and her time,” he said.

Goodridge said his daughter’s outstanding performances made him feel good, but he lamented that Jodi’s mother was not alive to see her shine. He underscored his commitment as a single parent and chief supporter for his daughter in all her positive endeavours.

Cedenio, during his post awards interview, said he was honoured to be nominated for the award and ultimately win. “I really wasn’t expecting it because it had a lot of athletes who did good throughout the year. I prayed and I worked hard, so I guess I deserve it. My next step is to work harder this year, break my personal best… Make more national teams. I am ai

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