Sports
Roneil Walcott
Two-time Olympic medallist Keshorn Walcott, former World Indoor 400-metre champion Jereem Richards and rising women’s sprint star Leah Bertrand are among the many athletes who will be showing off their talents and aiming for national honours when the 2025 NGC/National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAATT) Open Championships are held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, from August 2 to 3.
For many athletes, it will present a last-ditch chance to try and attain automatic qualifying standards for the World Athletics Championships, which will be held in Tokyo, Japan, from September 13-21. For others, especially the junior athletes, it will present an opportunity for them to stake a claim and upstage some of their more seasoned counterparts.
For the trio of Bertrand (women’s 100m and 200m), Richards (men’s 200m and 400m) and Walcott (men’s javelin), the automatic qualifying standard for Tokyo has already been achieved. Having won the women’s 100m national title last year, Bertrand will be eager to continue the form from a fine collegiate season when she suits up in both the 100m and 200m events this weekend. In the women’s 100m, which runs off on August 2, Bertrand is expected to face competition from Janae De Gannes and the veteran Michelle-Lee Ahye.
At last month’s junior national champs, De Gannes got the Pan Am Under-20 standard when she won the women’s under-20 100m in 11.59. Now 33, Ahye, a former 100m Commonwealth Games champ, will be eager to show her younger competitors she still has a lot left in the tank. So far this season, Ahye’s best time over 100 metres is her 11.31 seconds clocking in Chula Vista, California on July 12.
Richards, who raced to a comprehensive victory in the men’s 400m final at last year’s senior champs, will be competing in only the 200m event at this year’s national champs. Having set a blistering season’s best of 19.86 back in May, Richards will be aiming to find back his best form in the build-up to the World Champs in Japan.
Richards will begin his 200m title quest on August 3 when he lines up in heat one. Last year’s men’s 200m champion Jonathan Farinha will start in heat three, with Da Shaun Lezama and Jaden De Souza expected to offer some threat in his heat. Other notable names set to compete in the men’s 200m event are Simplex’s Hakeem Chinapoo and Abilene Wildcats’ Jerod Elcock.
For Walcott, a ninth national title should be a formality once he successfully executes his throws, but the Toco native will surely have bigger things on his mind as he, too, works towards Tokyo. Walcott will be one of eight throwers in the javelin event and will be keen to improve on his season’s best effort of 84.65m, which came in Qatar in May.
The men’s 100m event should be a treat as the Chinapoo brothers – Hakeem and Kadeem – will put their speed to the test against athletes such as Elcock, Kion Benjamin, Eric Harrison and Giovanni Bobb-Semple, who copped the boys’ under-20 100m title at the junior national championships.
Reigning Carifta champs such as Christopher Sammy (men’s 1,500m), Brion Scott (men’s 800m) and Keneisha Shelbourne (women’s long and triple jump) will also be in action, as well as middle-distance specialists Nicholas Romany and Tafari Waldron.
