By Carlena Knight
The contingent that competed at the recently-concluded Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe returned on Sunday.
They were welcomed and congratulated for their respective individual performances in the five-day-long inaugural event.
It was a new personal best for national triple jumper Taeco O’Garro on the final day of competition at the inaugural Caribbean Games.
He improved his distance from 15.90m to 15.75m in the Men’s Triple Jump event, finishing 4th overall.
Swimmers, Ariana John and Tivon Benjamin also recorded a new PB in their respective races.
John in the women’s 100m freestyle swam a time of 1:01.64 to finish 10th while Benjamin finished in a time of 54.85secs in 12th place.
Olivia Fuller finished 11th in a time of 1:01.92.
The 4x100m relay was however disqualified after a false start from O’Garro.
Antigua and Barbuda did walk away with some hardware from the Games.
Long jumper Sheldon Noble and swimmer Jadon Wuillez both won gold medals in their respective disciplines, while sprinter Darion Skerritt picked up bronze in the 100 meters finals on Friday.
Noble registered a distance of 7.13 meters to take the top prizes in the field event while Wuillez, who won gold in the 100 meters breaststroke on Thursday, returned to the pool to claim a second gold but in the 50 meters breaststroke in a time of 28.10 seconds.
Meanwhile, Skerritt registered a time of 10:72 to finish third in the 100 meters final and claim the bronze.
Also in action on Friday was cyclist Emmanuel Gayral who finished 22nd from amongst 28 riders in the time trial event.
Observer Media caught up with Noble and Skerrit upon their arrival home.
Both young men admitted that it was a surreal feeling to create history in the first-ever Caribbean Games.
“It was a very exciting moment,” Noble said.
“The Games were new, a bit unorganized, but we still went out there and did our best. The team on a whole did great and I mean, the feeling was great for everyone. They said they enjoyed it, they did their best, as did I,” he added.
“It’s a great feeling for me,” Skerritt mentioned.
“This is the inaugural Caribbean Games and I am really proud of myself. It is always a pleasure to represent my country at the highest level and I am really glad that I was able to pull through with a medal, and it only shows what I have put in over the last few months and years to get to this level, and to be able to perform to the best of my ability,” Skerritt concluded.