Michal Paul leapt to Trinidad and Tobago’s sixth gold medal of the 53rd CARIFTA Games at the Kirani James Stadium in St George’s, Grenada on Monday.
In 2025, at the 52nd games hosted by T&T at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Paul took bronze in the event with a best effort of 7.03 metres.
This time around, Paul got it done early; his first attempt, 6.93 metres, was enough to take him to Team TTO’s first medal of the final day.
Asked about his performance, Paul had some notes to himself.
“I feel happy with myself; I would say I’m satisfied, but I’m really not with the jump distance-wise, but with the medal I am,” Paul said.
“My intention was to jump the record or at least tie the record, but with the unpredictable wind, it was almost impossible, but I had the attitude that if I came out here and did my thing like I always do in training, I would be fine.”
Paul’s second-best jump, 6.66 metres, still left most of the field in his wake. Jamaica’s Talshawn Edwards put himself in silver position with his fifth effort of 6.71 metres.
St Lucia’s Randall Monroe also booked his podium spot with his fifth effort of 6.60 metres for bronze.
Paul, Trinidad and Tobago’s 25th medallist at CARIFTA 2026, will now rest and recover for this evening’s Boys’ Under-17 4×400 metre final.
“A lot of energy is going into that. You should stay tuned,” Paul said. Presses for a prediction, he added, “No words, just watch.”
On the track, Chelcia Joseph qualified for the Girls Under-17 100-meter hurdles (0.762 m) with a third-place finish in Heat 1, returning a time of 14.29 seconds, the fifth-best time heading into the afternoon session’s final.
There was heartbreak for Kelis Alexander, who false-started out of Heat 2.
Girls’ Under-20 400-metre hurdles bronze medallist Jenna-Marie Thomas is into the Girls’ Under-20 100-metre hurdles final after a second-place finish in heat one in a time of 13.67 seconds, the third-fastest overall.
She is confident of bringing home another medal in the shorter hurdle event after a strong finish on Sunday evening.
There will be two Trinbagonians in that final after Kewes Gomes qualified out of Heat 2 in a time of 14.69.
Another 400 metre hurdles medallist, Omari Browne, who got silver in last evening’s Under-20 Boys final, is back in the fray for the Boys 110 metres hurdles event after a third-place finish in semi-final heat 2 in 13.75 seconds.
Tyrique Vincent, fresh off his Boys’ Under-20 Decathlon title defence on Sunday evening, finished fifth in 14.38 and bowed out of contention after Heat 1.
