BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AFTER a disappointing first night at the CARIFTA Games where she finished bottom of the pile in the Under-20 Girls Triple Jump, Krystal Liburd showed the mental fortitude she possesses to bounce back and capture gold in the Long Jump.
She leapt to victory in the Under-20 Girls Long Jump clearing a distance of 6.11metres while also receiving loud cheers from the home and visiting fans when she made that winning
jump.
Liburd, speaking to the media after receiving her medal, expressed her joy at taking top spot after a disappointing first night.
"Well, I feel extremely great because yesterday I did not do as well as I thought I would, but I feel great."
She was also asked to comment on her preparation leading up to the event.
"Preparations have been a bit difficult because I am in the Fifth Form and I am preparing for CXC exams."
This media house also spoke with St. Kitts and Nevis' Team Manager Evris Huggins who commented on the team's medals won on day two, stating that they would bring momentum to the camp.
"We won a gold medal and two silvers on day two and we are quite happy and content with the performances so far. We knew going into the championships we had a lot of momentum, a lot of strength, and we knew that Krystal Liburd would have been able to deliver."
He also lauded their last minute decision to allow Kieshonna Brooks to compete in the Under-18 Girls Long Jump in which she grabbed a silver medal.
"The decision to allow Kieshonna Brooks to compete in the Long Jump was an after decision after her performance at the TDC Inter-School Championships. And now we are grateful to see we have made the right decision to win another medal for St. Kitts and Nevis."
The jovial Team Manager also indicated that the camp is very excited ahead of today’s competition.
"We have a lot more ammunition and I am certain when I get back to the camp this evening the athletes would be a lot more motivated. We are so excited in competing in the relays tomorrow. We are excited about the hurdles though we had a mishap with Oniel Thomas earlier today, but we are still excited. It is definitely some momentum for Team St. Kitts and Nevis."
He also commented on the sprinters’ performance thus far.
"We had already accepted that this is not the best batch of sprinters. What was remarkable for us is to see that we have had a junior athlete in Hakeem Huggins who has consistently been running below the 10.5 seconds mark. We have not had an athlete like that since Jason Rogers.
"We looked at Shanice Elliott who made it in the 100 metres Final. She is a young Under-18 athlete, which means she had another year at it. She also attained another World Youth qualifier in that event."
