media_artricles :: 2013

KING JEHUE

T&T hurdler captures world junior title

Jehue Gordon ascended his throne, at the IAAF World Junior Championships, here in Moncton, Canada, late yesterday.

A king in waiting for the first four days of the global under-20 meet, Gordon was crowned on day five, the Trinidad and Tobago athlete grabbing gold in the men’s 400 metres hurdles.

An overwhelming favourite for the title, Gordon did not disappoint, clocking 49.30 seconds to become only the fifth T&T athlete to claim World Juniors gold. He followed in the footsteps of 1992 men’s double sprint champion Ato Boldon, 2002 men’s 100m winner Darrel Brown, 2006 men’s 400m gold medallist Renny Quow and 2006 women’s long jump champion Rhonda Watkins.

Gordon received a standing ovation from an appreciative crowd at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium as he made a victory lap with the T&T flag draped across his shoulders. And after receiving his gold medal, he beamed with pride as the red, white and black was raised and “Forged from the Love of Liberty” blared from the speakers.

“I want to say thanks to everyone who has been behind me from the start. I give them much praise and thanks. Thanks for the support on the whole.”

The final was closer than expected, Japan’s Takatoshi Abe seizing silver in 49.46.

Drawn in lane five, Gordon quickly made up the stagger on Abe, in six. And when he came off the final turn, the 18-year-old T&T athlete seemed in control. But Abe produced a strong challenge coming home. Gordon, though, held him off, getting to the line first to become the first athlete from the English speaking Caribbean to capture a World Junior Championship men’s one-lap hurdles title. The only other Caribbean athlete to achieve the feat was Cuba’s Emilio Valle at the inaugural Championships, in Athens, Greece, in 1986.

“I would say things went as planned,” Gordon said, “because I got the gold medal. I wasn’t studying time as much. I wanted to go out there and have a good race, make sure my steps are correctly made through the whole race. And at the end of it I got the gold. I was a bit surprised [by Abe’s challenge] but I expected it, seeing that I slowed a bit coming around 200 metres.”

Leslie Murray of the United States Virgin Islands bagged bronze in 50.22 seconds.

Shortly after Gordon’s victory lap, Kai Selvon produced a brave run in lane two in the women’s 200m final. The T&T sprinter finished fourth in 23.58 seconds.

American Stormy Kendrick (22.99), Great Britain’s Jodie Williams (23.19) and Jamie Samuel (23.27) of the Netherlands earned gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

And just before press time, Moriba Morain copped sixth spot in the men’s 200m final in 21.10 seconds. Japan’s Shota Iizuka won in 20.67 seconds, from Belarusian Aliaksandr Linnik (20.89) and Canadian Aaron Brown (21.00).

The T&T combination of Jamol James, Sabian Cox, Kevin Haynes and Shermund Allsop clocked 39.88 seconds to finish second in the first of three men’s 4x100m qualifying heats, advancing automatically to today’s final. Jamaica, anchored by 100m champion Dexter Lee, won in 39.74.

In the morning session, yesterday, Quincy Wilson exited the men’s discus.

The Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Junior Championship gold medallist was unable to produce a legal throw in the qualifying competition.

In the opening round, the disc landed outside the sector. On his second attempt, Wilson was unable to stay inside the circle. And in round three, the disc slammed into the cage, signalling the end of the T&T field athlete’s World Juniors campaign.

“I have no idea what happened,” a bitterly disappointed Wilson told the Express. “I went in there, I was relaxed, everything was good. It just wasn’t my day.”

“I was ready,” he continued. “Listen to me, I’ve been practising all year for this. My coach, Ismael Lopez has been practising me for this meet for the whole year, since the year started, and…”

This is Wilson’s final season as a junior (under-20) athlete. In 2011, he will campaign as a full-fledged senior.

“Back to the drawing board and start from scratch. Next year, men, I hope to do…I will do my best next year. World Senior Championships, definitely, definitely, I’ll be working very hard towards that.”

Elton Walcott competes today in the men’s triple jump qualifying competition.

And T&T will be on show in the men's and women's 4x400m heats. In the men's mile relay, Kishorn Dempster, Haynes, Osei Alleyne-Forte and Deon Lendore are expected to fly the T&T flag in the second of three heats, while the women will run in the first of two heats. The T&T quartet will be chosen from Sparkle McKnight, Shawna Fermin, Gabriela Cumberbatch, Alena Brooks and Jessica James.

Top