The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama — Rhema Otabor capped off a sensational season by picking up the bronze medal in the women’s javelin st the 2022 North American, Central American and Caribbean Open Championships.

On the final day of competition yesterday at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex, Otabor tossed the spear 57.91 metres on her second attempt in the seven-woman field.

Americans Kara Winger took the gold with (64.68m) on her second attempt and Ariana Ince got the silver with (59.69m) on her first attempt. “Today, I just wanted to come out and do my best and I think I did just that,” Otabor said.

“I was about a metre short of my PR, but I was really happy with the performance. I had a little bit of a hiccup at the end, but overall, I’m still pretty happy.”

She said she knew the competition was going to be tough, but she was pleased with how she performed against them, especially with the crowd cheering her on.

“I felt the support and love,” she said.

Coming off his gold medal performance at the Commonwealth Games a week ago in Birmingham, England, LaQuan Nairn wanted to at least get on the podium here, but he fell short with a fourth place finish.

His leap of 7.75m on his first attempt wasn’t enough to propel him into the top two spots.

In the women’s triple jump, Tamara Myers came through with a fourth place finish with 44-11 (13.69m).

Thea Lafond of Dominica took the gold with 47-6 ½ (14.49m) on her sixth and final attempt to surpass the championship record of 46-9 (14.25m) that was previously held by Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica in 2018 in Toronto, Canada.

American Keturah Orji got the silver with 46-11 3/4 (14.32m) and the bronze went to Fernandez Velazco of Cuba with 46-2 ½ (14.08m)

“The field was a good field, so I was compelled to jump well,” Myers said. “It was a tester for me because the runway is very fast, so I was pleased to be jumping on it.

“The first jump was a run through jump, so the second jump, I got adjusted, based on my run through. On the third, it was the same approach, same run through. I think I fouled on my fourth and fifth, so I was pleased.”

Having competed in about three meets prior to coming to the championships, Myers said she had about two weeks break and the inactivity showed up in her performance, but she will settle with what she got.”