- ttsportdiary
Antoine Qualifies for PanAm U-20 Championships
Neon Wolves' athlete Aaron Antoine has qualified for the 2021 Pan American U-20 Championships in the men's U-20 long and high jumps today while competing at the National Amateur Athletic Association's (NAAA) Pan American Prep Meet 1 (U-20 Champs & U-23 Games). The 6'9 athlete put on a stunning display at the Hasely Crawford Stadium as he smashed his personal bests in both events to qualify for the biennial games in Chile, scheduled for October 22-24. Going in the long jump event first, the former Waterloo Secondary student leaped to a personal best of 7.12m, surpassing the qualification standard of 7.08m while in the high jump, he sprung over the 2.06m height, out-jumping the qualification standard of 2m. He ended the high jump early as he felt some discomfort in his shin and did not want to risk anything unnecessarily.
This is set to be Antoine's first national team since 2014 as the seventeen-year-old missed out on Carifta and CAC Games last year, due to Covid-19, after making the qualifying standards. T&T Sport Diary briefly caught up with the Preysal youth who quickly gave his praises to God. "Firstly, all Glory to God. This feels good. I prayed to come here and perform to my best ability and I did that but I also know I can still do better but I am thankful." Eager to know about his preparations now that he is sure he has qualified, the very humble and well-mannered Antoine told us that he doesn't plan to change much. "I don't want to change anything to the point where I'll be uncomfortable. I'll continue training everyday in Ato (Boldon Stadium) just as I usually do and just continue doing what I normally do. This is of course, once my coach doesn't have any plans to make any changes."
In the future we'd be sure to catch the young athlete in some track events as he has been training for the 400m and 110 hurdles events but is yet to compete. He's also a multi-sport athlete as he is currently in training with the U-17 national basketball team who is currently preparing for an upcoming tournament later this year. The Chile-bound athlete is the only athlete that has qualified today for the Championships but others will go again tomorrow as they continue to seek a spot on the squad.