Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago
ON THE MEDAL PODIUM: Shown, from left to right, are Bahamas’ Marvin Johnson Jr, men’s 50m freestyle silver medallist, alongside the host country’s gold medallist Nikoli Blackman and bronze medallist Zarek Wilson, of Trinidad and Tobago. Photo courtesy of Keianna Moss
As of Thursday, August 10, 2023
#By TENAJH SWEETING
#Tribune Sports Reporter
#tsweeting@tribunemedia.net
#Team Bahamas competed in their final event yesterday at the Commonwealth Youth Games, amassing four medals in the competition.
#The team earned two silver and two bronze medals after multiple days of events in Trinidad and Tobago.
#The 15-member team competed in athletics, cycling (road), triathlon and had a big showing in the swimming event.
#The 7th Commonwealth Youth Games hosted more than 1,000 athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 competing at different venues across Trinidad and Tobago.
#The youth team made waves in swimming at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, Trinidad.
#Marvin Johnson Jr came away with two medals in the competition. The CARIFTA medallist nabbed silver after finishing one position behind the host country’s Nikoli Blackman in the men’s 50 metre freestyle.
#Johnson clocked 22.54 seconds, meanwhile, Blackman notched 22.36 seconds for the gold.
#The bronze medal went to Trinidad’s Zarek Wilson who swam a time of 22.95 in the event.
#Johnson’s work was not done at the youth games because he earned another medal, this time in the men’s 100m freestyle.
#Blackman once again got the edge, winning the event with a time of 49.60.
#Matthew Ward, the newest junior Commonwealth Games record holder, secured silver in 50.26 seconds.
#The Bahamas’ Johnson followed right behind in 50.41 seconds.
#Nigel Forbes did not leave the Commonwealth Youth Games empty-handed. He showed out in the men’s 50m backstroke, touching the wall in third place with a time of 26.32 seconds. Forbes ended the race behind Ward who finished first with a record-breaking time of 25.51 and Wilson in second.
#The junior swimmer also finished fourth in both the men’s 100m and 200m butterfly respectively.
#Among the other swimmers to get their feet wet included Emmanuel Gadson, who capped off the men’s 200m breastroke in fifth position and 50m breastroke in sixth.
#Swimming did not include the only standout performances in Trinidad. Robert Deal lll represented The Bahamas well in the men’s shot put finals. Deal wrapped up the event with a silver medal behind South Africa’s Johann Hencu Lamberts. He put up a throwing distance of 15.99m to seal his position in the event.
#Third place went to Denzel Phillips of Saint Lucia who followed The Bahamas with a distance of 15.75m.
#In the men’s discus throw, Deal finished one position shy of third place with a personal and season’s best distance of 44.90m.
#Along with Deal, CARIFTA gold medallist Tumani Skinner got in on the athletics and advanced to the 200m semifinals but was unable to go further in the competition.
#In cycling, Barron Musgrove and Kami Roach competed for The Bahamas. Musgrove ranked 27th in the men’s individual time trial. He ended the event with a time of 25:18.14.
#Roach competed in the women’s road race on Monday with 17 other competitors. She finished ranked 13 in the competition and completed with a time of 1:43:58. Meanwhile, in the women’s time trial, she clocked 17:17.84 in Saturday’s event.
#For the triathlon portion of the youth games, Erin Pritchard and Livingston Duncombe both competed.
#The duo teamed up in the mixed team relay super sprint distance and finished the event ranked 18th after stopping the clock at 48:01.
#Australia leads the medal count with 48, England sits in second with 39 medals and Scotland has 20 in the youth games.
#The competition’s final events will include beach volleyball, cycling (track), FAST5 netball, and the athletics segment to wrap up the seventh Commonwealth Youth Games.
