Page 20 - Team TTO PARIS 2024
P. 20

It’s a blessing

                                   to even be here running





            “My late friend Deon Lendore was a big inspiration for   He seemed to be on a roll until an injury at the
            me and a part of the reason I’m picking up the 400m   National Trials at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in
            so much this season. Just to honour Deon, keep the    July left him battling to be fit for the World
            fire burning and ensure we have a good legacy in the   Championships in Budapest. He was only able to
            400m.” Jereem Richards, 2022.                         make it to the semi-finals at the Championships.

            In 2022, the untimely death of 400m sprinter Deon     “It’s a blessing to even be here running.” he told local
            Lendore left a huge hole in T&T track and field. Lendore   journalists after the race. “A lot of people questioned
            was part of the 4x400m team that won bronze at the    why I didn’t run the final in the 200 in Senior
            London Olympics in 2012 and silver at the World       Champs. In running the heats, I tore the fascia
            Championships in Beijing, China in 2015.              around my plantar fascia under my foot.”

            Fellow sprinter Jereem Richards was one of Lendore’s   He explained that he went through intense therapy
            best friends. At the time, Richards had been balancing   including PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatment, pool
            the 200m and the 400m. But after Lendore’s passing,   workouts and runs on the high jump mat. He went
            Richards who had won bronze in the 200m at the 2017   to Hungary hoping for the best, but it wasn’t to be.
            World Athletics Championships in London declared he
            would run more 400m races as a way of honouring his   2024 looks a lot better for the Point Fortin athlete
            teammate and friend.                                  nicknamed, “The Dream”.

            Richards then went on to have some of the best 400m   In May, he lined up alongside Asa Guevara, Che Lara
            races of his life. In March 2022, at the New Balance   and Shakeem McKay to book T&T’s Olympic
            Indoor Grand Prix in New York, he won with a personal   qualification for the 4x400m relay. Then on June 1,
            best time of 45.83.                                   he won the 200m at the Racers Grand Prix in
                                                                  Kingston, Jamaica in a time of 20.13 to ensure his
            It was then on to the World Indoor Championships in   spot for the 200m in Paris.
            Belgrade, Serbia in where he smashed the T&T national
            record with a run of 45secs to grab the gold medal.   Richards didn’t disappoint the fans who braved the
                                                                  rains at the Hasely Crawford Stadium to watch the
            He was also doing some excellent times in the 200m    finals of the 400m at the national trials. He breezed
            hitting a personal best of 19.80 in his golden run at the   to a win in 44.72, posting a season’s best in the
            Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.            process.
            In 2023, he had a brilliant indoor season winning the   Richards says he’s not sure which sprint event he’ll
            Millrose Games in New York and the Birmingham         take part in at the Games, but his followers can be
            World Indoor Tour Final in England. Richards          sure he’ll run with determination and faith and
            dominated the field in the Central American and        deliver his best as he always does for the red, white
            Caribbean Championships in a time of 44.54 secs,      and black.
            another personal best.









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