by SHERRYLYN A TOPPIN in Basseterre, St Kitts

MATTHEW WRIGHT ran his way into the hearts of all who saw him here at the 37th CARIFTA Games on Sunday night, earning a standing ovation at the end of the Under-17 Boys' 3 000 metres.

Wright, who was fourth in the event last year, won gold in a personal best 9 minutes 05.11 minutes. The young man set a torrid pace in the seven-and-a-half lap event, winning by more than 50 metres.

He went to the head of the pack with five laps remaining, leading Jamaica's Swayne Hibbert (9:24.89) and Guadeloupe's Gary Siwsanker (9:25.04) after Ibrahim Hinds fell off the pace.

With three laps remaining, Wright started to open up and was all alone on the bell lap. Across the back stretch, he picked up speed and sprinted home as the excited announcer shouted: "Looks (W)right, all (W)right," as people surged to their feet to salute the young man's gold medal performance.

"I went into the race hoping to feed off of someone for the first two laps, but they went out too slow, so I took the race in my own hands. I realised there was a fellow behind me for about five laps, so I pushed it up and finished a fast last lap. It was a personal best, so I am happy with that," Wright said.

"I was going for gold. I had to push the pace to put them off. It hurt a little bit, but as a distance runner, you just have to suck it up," he added.

Praises

While he was in the tunnel waiting to receive his medal, the accolades were still coming as people from the track and field fraternity, including Bahamian Olympic golden girl Pauline Davis-Thompson, stopped to chat and congratulate him on his excellent performance.

Wright's was one of three gold medals which came in the late evening session as Barbados pushed the medal count to 17 (4 gold, six silver, seven bronze), picking up 12 on the second day.

Trevor Ifill also took gold in the Under-20 Boys' javelin, continuing Barbados' rich tradition in that event. His best of 65.48 metres was four centimetres short of the 21-year record he wanted to break but he can take comfort in the fact that even his worst throw of 56.66 was still good for gold.

As expected, Shane Brathwaite won the Open Boys' heptathlon with 5 006 points, improving from 4 881. He won all but three events, and was also in the tunnel waiting for his medal when NATIONSPORT caught up with him.

"It was good, really good. I was leading from Day 1 and I'm fairly satisfied with all my performances. It was a big personal best," he said after proving he is the best in the Caribbean in his age range.

Ryan R. Brathwaite was left wondering "what if", falling to fourth place from second after the 1 500 metres. His sub-par performance in the high jump doomed him much as Brathwaite's in the discus did last year, and although he made up ground in the discus, he was too far off the pace in the 1 500.

Bronze medals

The Under-20 4x100 relay teams also won bronze medals to cap a very good day's performance, and there were smiles all around as they waited for medals.

Team captain Kierre Beckles strode through the field to take bronze on the anchor leg in 45.75 seconds, completing what Tameka Rawlins, Mara Weekes and Sade Greene had started. Shekeim Greaves also ran a great anchor leg on the team which included Rico Tull, Renaldo Bailey and Jerry-Lee Davis to finish in 41.59. Those relays were dominated by Jamaica and The Bahamas, with the Jamaican Under-20 Boys' team stopping the clock in 39.80 seconds.

In other events, Barbadian Kirk Austin was seventh in the long jump, Najuma Comissiong tenth in the Girls' 3 000 and Deandra Dottin sixth in the Under-20 Girls' discus.