A spectacular performance at the 2025 Junior Pan American Games in Asunción, Paraguay has earned Cayman Islands sprinter Davontè Howell a nomination for the Best Junior Male Athlete in the Panam Sports Awards.
Howell is among seven young athletes from across the Americas – including nominees from Brazil, Paraguay, the US, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, spanning sports like swimming, athletics and water skiing – who are being honoured through an online public vote for their exceptional achievements at the Junior Pan American Games.
Howell’s inclusion is recognition of one of the biggest surprises in athletics at the 2025 Junior Pan American Games, where the 19-year-old secured a historic gold medal in the men’s 100-metre.
His winning time of 9.98 seconds was a new Junior Pan American Games record, a feat so impressive that it even surpassed the times set in the 100-metre at the last two adult Pan American Games in Lima 2019 and Santiago 2023.
The victory cemented the Cayman Islands’ first-ever gold medal in the event and earned Howell a spot at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo and the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
The road to the final saw Howell break the Junior Pan Am Games record twice; he first lowered the mark to 10.10 seconds in the semi-finals, surpassing the 10.13 set by Colombia’s Ronal Longa just minutes earlier and shattering the 2021 record of 10.33 by Brazil’s Erik Cardoso.
Howell then returned for the final the following day to blaze through the finish line once again, clocking his wind-legal 9.98 seconds.
This success capped a phenomenal season for the sprinter, who previously secured first-place finishes at the Barbados Grand Prix with a time of 10.15 seconds and the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, with a time of 10.07 seconds.
Despite his incredible performance, Howell expressed surprise at the nomination, stating, “I’m completely caught off guard by it because I didn’t even know it was an award. I’m very happy of course that I have been nominated now knowing about its existence and also reflecting on the performance a little bit because I didn’t even think it was that big of a deal.
“I always set my expectations so high that I forget to give myself some praise for the smaller accomplishments,” Howell added.
The online public vote for all categories is open from 2-21 Dec., with the winners being announced on 22 Dec.
