Time
to Merengue Out, Start the Samba to 2007
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – Merengue
musician Juan Luis Guerra tops the bill for Sunday’s Closing Ceremonies, which
also will feature an appearance by current Miss Universe Amelia Vega.
The
reigning beauty is back in her native Dominican Republic for the first time
since being crowned in June.
In
keeping with tradition, Cesar Maia, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will
receive the Pan American Sports Organisation flag from Dominican Republic
officials.
Rio de
Janeiro will host the 2007 Pan American Games.
To get
people in the mood, the sounds of Brazil will ring out in the Olympic Stadium
complete with samba dancers and an appearance by singer Alexandre Pires.
In competition, Trinidad and Tobago’s ace swimmer
George Bovell produced a class-act performance at the Juan Pablo Duarte Aquatic
Centre here on Saturday.
Bovell,
along with compatriot Kertson Manswell, were the only medallists for the
Caribbean on the final night of competition at the XIV Pan American Games.
The
20-year-old Trinidadian picked up a second gold medal as he won the 200m
Individual Medley in a new Games record of one minute 59.49 seconds. Bovell was
confident from the start, completing the first 50m in 26.15 seconds.
He was
the only competitor to finish under two minutes as Brazilian Thiago Perreira was
second in 2:02.31 and Eric Donnelly of the USA (2:02.52) was third.
Other
finishers were Jeremy Knowles of the Bahamas (7th, 2:03.99); Bradley
Ally of Barbados (9th, 2:05.09); Nicholas Bovell of Trinidad (11th,
2:06.42); Andrew Mackay of the Cayman Islands (12th, 2:08.33); and
Shaune Fraser also of the Cayman Islands (15th, 2:09.83).
In other
swimming results, Alana Dillette of the Bahamas was 12th in the
women’s 200m backstroke in 2:34.44 while Heather Roffey of the Cayman Islands
finished ninth (2:21.31) and Tamara Swaby of Jamaica 16th in 2:29.73
in the women’s 200m butterfly.
In the
women’s 50m freestyle, Sharntelle McLean of Trinidad and Tobago was eighth in
26.92; Angela Chuck of Jamaica clocked 27.13 to finish 10th; Linda
McEachrame of T&T 12th in 27.33; Ali Atkinson of Jamaica 13th
in 27.35 and Nikia Deveaux of the Bahamas 16th in 27.42.
There
were no medals for the Bahamas and Barbados in the men’s 4x100 medley relay.
The Bahamas was seventh in 3:57.44 and Barbados finished eighth in 3:58.15.
Meantime,
heavyweight boxer Kertson Manswell maintained his consistent performance at
international level with a silver medal at the Pan American Games. Manswell lost
on points to Cuban world-champion Odlaniel Solis Fuentes in the final bout of
the championships on Saturday evening.
The
Trinidadian lost early points when he fell from a right jab from his opponent
towards the end of the first round but survived the count. Solis was very
elusive and out-pointed Manswell (5-1, 8-2, 10-3 and 15-3) to win the gold.
Manswell,
who has won silver medals at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in
El Salvador and the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, ill now focus his
attention on the Olympic qualifiers scheduled for Mexico and Brazil early next
year.
However,
he is also scheduled to appear on a Show Time Promotions Bout in Las Vegas in
November.
With
only the men’s cycling road racing on the schedule for Sunday, Jamaica topped
the medal standings for the English-Speaking Caribbean with 14 including five
gold medals. Trinidad and Tobago (seven) and Barbados (three) were the only
other Caribbean nations with gold medals to their tally.
The
Bahamas, Grenada and Guyana finished with two medals and the Cayman Islands,
Bermuda and St Lucia copped one medal each.
It was a
crowning moment for the Caribbean at these Games with Trinidadian swimmer George
Bovell and Barry Forde, the Barbadian cycling ‘maestro’, highlighting the
talent f the region.
Both
Bovell and Forde were double medallists in Santo Domingo. It was also memorable
for Grenada and St Lucia as they won their first ever medals at the Pan American
Games.
Forde, Saunders and Bovell shoneon penultimate day at Pan Am
by Michael Bascombe
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – Barbadian cyclist Barry Forde rode his name into the Pan American Games record books when he became the first man to win both the sprint and the keirin at the same Games here on Friday.
Forde, Nigella Saunders of Jamaica and George Bovell of Trinidad and Tobago were the only medal winners for the English-Speaking Caribbean on the penultimate day of competition at the XIV Pan American Games.
Forde
gave Barbados a second gold medal when he won the men’s sprint final at the
Olympic Velodrome. Colombian Leonardo Narvaez was no match for the Barbadian in
the final sprint with a flying start of 10.897 seconds.
Guideon
Massie of the United States rode ahead of Jonathan Marvin of Colombia for the
bronze medal.
Forde’s
victory ensured his qualification for the world Championships in Australia next
May.
Saunders copped Jamaica’s fifth gold medal at the Games when she defeated Anna Rice of Canada 2-1 in the women’s singles badminton tournament. Saunders won the first set 11-7 but Rice stormed back to win set number two 11-3 before Saunders finished the match with an 11-8 third-set victory.
Bovell
secured the Caribbean’s lone medal in the pool finishing second to American
Peter Marshall in the men’s 100m backstroke (55.52). Bovell touched in 55.52
for the silver while Jayme Cramer of the USA was third in 55.88.
Finishing
down the order were Nicholas Neckles of Barbados (10th – 57.90),
Nicholas Bovell of Trinidad and Tobago (12th – 58.85), Christopher
Vythoulkas of the Bahamas (13th – 59.09), and Andrew Mackay of the
Cayman Islands (15th – 59.40).
In other
swimming results, Kaitlyn Elphinstone of the Cayman Islands finished 10th
in the women’s 800m freestyle, Matthew Houllier of T&T was 14th
in the men’s 200m butterfly and Trinidad and Tobago were seventh in the
women’s 4x100m medley relay.
The
main focus for the Caribbean on the final day of competition on Saturday will be
the heavyweight boxing clash between Commonwealth Games silver medallist Kertson
Manswell of Trinidad and Tobago and world champion Odlanier Solis of Cuba.
It’s
the final of a five-bout card at the Carlos Teo Cruz Boxing Coliseum.
Cuba
won four of the six championship bouts on Friday. Also, Cuba go after the gold
medal in women’s volleyball on Saturday when they play the hosts in feature
match of the evening. The United States and Brazil will meet for the bronze
medal in the earlier match.
In
football, the Brazilians were denied a second gold medal when Argentina held on
to a one-nil score line to the end. Maximiliano Lopez’ 45th minute
shot to goal easily eluded goalkeeper Fernando Anjos. Brazil was denied an
equalizer by Jamaican referee Peter Prendergast shortly before the end when
defender Joel Barbosa removed a ball on the goal line.
Mexico
took the bronze by beating Colombia 5-4 on penalties after the score was locked
nil-nil at the end of allotted time.
In
the women’s final which was suspended on Friday night due to a thunderstorm,
Brazil defeated Canada 2-1 to take the gold medal.
Meantime,
the officials from the Caribbean carried the bulk of responsibilities at the
three football matches on Friday.
Prendergast
was assisted by his compatriot Michael Mitchell and Michael Ragoonath of
Trinidad and Tobago, with Guyanese Colin Klass as match commissioner in the
men’s championship game.
Neville
Ferguson of T&T was the match commissioner while Merere Gonzalez also of
Trinidad was an assistant referee in the Mexico/Colombia bronze-medal match.
In
the women’s final, Paulette Riley of Jamaica carried the assistant flag,
Dianne Ferreira of Guyana as the fourth official and Jean Yves Bart of Haiti as
the mach commissioner.
Gold for Forde and Silver for Bovell
by Michael Bascombe
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – Barbados became the latest English-Speaking Caribbean nation to strike gold at the XIV Pan American Games here on Wednesday.
Cyclist Barry Forde wrote his name in the history books as the first Barbadian to win gold at the Pan American Games as he snatched the men’s Keirin final at the Olympic Velodrome.
He was ahead of Guideon Massie of the United States and Ruben Osorio of Venezuela.
George Bovell of Trinidad and Tobago also ensured medals for the Caribbean in the swimming as he picked up the silver in the men’s 100m freestyle at the Aquatic Centre.
Bovell clocked 49.61 seconds to finish behind Jose Martin Meolans of Argentina (49.27). Damian Alleyne of Barbados (51.89) was 14th overall.
In the men’s 200m backstroke, Nicholas Neckles of Barbados was denied the bronze medal by American Joseph Faltraco. Neckles fourth-placed time was 2:04.30, behind Faltraco’s 2:01.31. Bovell’s younger brother, Nicholas was ninth in 2:05.22 and Christopher Backhaus of Dominica was 16th in 2:13.47.
In the women’s 400m freestyle, Janelle Atkinson finished fifth (4:15.99) among an experienced field as Elizabeth Hill (4:10.48) and Morgan Hentzen (4:13.03) went 1-2 with Hill breaking the Pan American record. Kaitlyn Elphinstone (4:28.73) and Heather Roffey (4:29.57) of the Cayman Islands finished 12th and 13th respectively.
And Ayeisha Collymore of Trinidad finished 15th in the women’s 100m backstroke.
Heavyweight boxer Kertson Manswell also moved within sight of his biggest fight of his career as he stopped American Devin Vargas in their semifinal bout at the Carlos Teo Cruz Coliseum.
Manswell showed control over his opponent in every round as Manswell secured a 100 percent winning record over the American after beating him in the first Pan Am qualifier. The bout was tied at five after two rounds but Vargas lost ground in the third round, going into the fourth round down four points.
Manswell will now meet Cuba’s world champion Odlanier Solis in Saturday’s bout for the gold medal.
In Badminton, there were mixed results as Jamaica’s Nigella Saunders is through to the final of the women’s singles after beating Sandra Jimeno of Peru 2-0 (11-9, 11-9) in their semifinal clash. Saunders will meet Anna Rice of Canada in the final. Rice defeated Lorena Blanco of Peru 2-0.
However, Charles Pyne and Bradley Graham of Jamaica lost their men’s doubles semifinal to Erick Anguiano and Pedro Yang of Guatemala 2-1 (11-15, 15-5, 14-17) and Saunders and Pyne lost the mixed doubles semifinal to Jody Patrick and Mike Beres of Canada 2-0 (15-7, 15-5).
Jamaica also moved ahead in squash with Karen Anderson winning her preliminary match against Diana Huerta of Mexico 3-2.