Trinidad and Tobago gymnastics continues to make great strides as the forty-four (44) young persons who journeyed to Jamaica this past weekend did not disappoint. The inaugural Caribbean Gymnastics Championships (CGC) took place on the 14th and 15th November at the National Indoor Sports Centre, Kingston Jamaica. Over 150 gymnasts from Barbados, Cayman Islands, Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago and the host country put on a great show for those gathered to support.
Team Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) Level 4 Women’s Artistic Gymnasts (WAG), Amethyst Cuffy and Alexia John gave the team an impressive start on the score board with their performance in the first session. Both ladies earned the top 2 spots all round with scores of 34.625 and 34.350 respectively placing TTO first in the Bars, Beam and Floor. The session also saw TTO’s level 5 Male Artistic Gymnasts (MAG) medaling in all apparatus – Floor, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars and High Bars. Clint Ramdial, our top performing male athlete, placed third with 53.20 behind the Cayman Islands who earned the top 2 spots overall at this level. Having the lone two gymnasts at the MAG Level 6 gave Team TTO’s scores a further boost as Isaiah Hall and Shane Ramsingh exchanged 1st and 2nd positions on the podium for the various events. Ramsingh managed to cop the number 1 all round position with 51.95.
This saw team TTO going into the afternoon session of day one, which included the Opening Ceremony, in high spirits. With greetings from Jamaica’s Minister of Sport and an exhibition from Jamaica’s Olympic hopefuls, the atmosphere in the sports centre was electric. Jamaica’s women’s team who formed part of the exhibition, like Trinidad and Tobago, earned a spot at the Olympic Test event in Rio in 2016 after the World Gymnastics Championships earlier this year. Our representative will be Thema Williams and Marisa Dick will be the alternate.
Our WAG Level 6, 7 and 8 gymnasts continued where their teammates left off mounting the podium in 1st place All-Round in all three levels. Level 6 (Jr) gymnasts Adrianna Housty with an overall score of 36.675 placed first in Vault and Bars and her Senior teammates followed suit. Tyshanna Beckles placed first in Vault and Beam and 2nd in Bars and Floor whilst Gabriella Thong and Trinity Sargeant earned 3 medals each and joined Beckles on the All Round podium with Thong mounting the 1st place position with 36.200.
The second day saw the younger ones in action, and they followed the example of their senior teammates giving the T&T parents and supporters gathered lots to cheer and scream about as the scores came up on the screens. To the average supporter, team TTO was well poised to win the championships. Sydelle Hines (37.95) and Keyara Prince (38.15), two of our Level 1 and Level 2 WAG gymnasts respectively, earned the team the top spot in their respective groups and the 2nd and 3rd place on the overall scores.
When the final results were in however, the method used to adjudicate saw team Jamaica being announced the winner with the Cayman Islands second and Trinidad and Tobago third. Despite TTO winning 7 of the 14 levels competed with Jamaica and Cayman Islands winning 5 and 2 respectively, the scores of their male athletes pushed them to the top 2 positions.
The TTGF is extremely proud of our gymnasts and their success at this competition. It wishes to thank CIMCO and Nestle for sponsoring the team’s uniforms for the trip and the continued support of the Ministry of Sport and the SporTT in developing our gymnasts. This competition is aimed at encouraging the development of gymnasts through team and individual competition and we look forward to having more of our gymnasts compete in the next installment carded to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in 2017!