Jamaica lead medal tally at the Central American and Caribbean Championships – Athletics news
Day three of the Central American and Caribbean Championships (CAC) concluded in Mayaguez, on Sunday, July 17, amid the stellar performances displayed by Korene Hinds, Vonette Dixon and Eric Keddo. Along with the efforts of the Women’s Relay team in 4x400
meet, the Jamaican contingent managed to finish on the top of the tally table.
Organised by the Central American and Caribbean Athletics Confederation, the CAC is a biannual track and field event where athletes from the confederation’s member nations are allowed to contest. Held first in 1967, the 23rd edition of the tournament
was organised this year in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
At this year’s event, Jamaica had been struggling just behind close rival, Mexico, on the tally table. On Sunday, a total of 26 medals left the otherwise wining nation of the event far behind in the medal race. Inclusive of the wins the island managed to
bag on the concluding day of the event, Jamaica won an altogether ten gold medals, six silver medals and ten bronze medals.
Mexico finished second for claiming seven gold, six silver and seven bronze medals. With a total of 14 medals, Trinidad and Tobago was third while for 10 and 7 medals, Bahamas and Cuba observed the event concluding at the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Dixon, the veteran runner who specialises in hurdling competitions, was rightfully the star of the event as for a distance of 100m, she marked an impressive finish of 12.77 seconds with her emphatic strides. The time she observed was later on realised as
the season’s best and 11th fastest for the ongoing year. The 35-year-old athlete boasts of a Personal Best of 12.64 seconds marked at Osaka, in 2007.
On Sunday, the efforts displayed by Dixon in the CAC helped her country reclaim the Women’s 100m hurdles title after a hiatus of about 7 years. The second and third titles of the discipline were claimed by Brigitte Merlano from Colombia and her countrywoman,
Lina Flores. They both stopped the clock in a time of 12.89 and 12.94 seconds, respectively.
In the 110m Men’s hurdling competition, for clocking a new Personal Best of 13.49 seconds, it was Keddo who grabbed the title of the event. Behind him was local runner, Hector Cotto, who for marking an impressive 13.54 seconds, not only claimed second position
on the podium, but also levelled his national record. Paulo Villar, the runner from Colombia, for clocking 13.60 seconds, emerged as the third finisher of the race.
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