Grenadian Lindon Victor won his first global medal, capturing the bronze in the decathlon at the just ended International Athletics Federation World Championship staged in Budapest, Hungary.
The Grenadian recorded a total of 8756 points in the ten-event competition.
Canadian Pierce LePage, 8909, won the gold and his compatriot Damain Warner 8804, took the silver. Estonia’s Karel Tilga finished on 8681 points and Germany’s overnight leader Leo Neugebauer fifth with a total of 8645 points.
The 27-year-old Canadian took over the lead after the opening event of the day, the 110m hurdles, and kept it to the end as he covered 1500m in 4:39.88 to total 8909 points.
Grenadian Victor then forced his way up into the medal places after winning the discus with a championship best of 54.97m. Warner’s 45.82m was enough to keep him in silver-medal position, with LePage throwing 50.98m to consolidate his lead.
Posting on his site, and highlighted on the Ministry of Sports Facebook page, Victor said
“It’s truly remarkable how God works things out that at the end of the day no one else can get the glory but him. For the first time in my career I struggled both mentally and physically with an injury. Doctors told me I needed surgery and there was no way I could compete at this year’s World Championships. A report that I struggled with (mental health is important), but my God is the greatest physician there is.
I am blessed to have the right team in my life from my family, friends, coaches, and trainers at my side that helped me navigate through these challenges.
For those of you who have followed my career over the years you’ve known of my challenges at major championships. Failing time and time again to live up to my potential. This medal is your sign to never let failure be final. Learn from these mistakes because your breakthrough might be around the corner.
To those of you who have supported me and also believed in the boy from La Femme this medal is for you. And to those of you who volunteered to make this historic championship happen, as always, I tip my hat to you. Thank you and to God be the glory!”
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell in congratulating Victor, described his achievement as a credit to his passion to pursue success. The Grenadian leader said that this and other generations will be inspired by his accomplishment and wished him well in his future endeavours.
Grenadian two-times world Javelin Champion Anderson Peters failed to defend his title. According to reports, Peters experienced ankle and shoulder injuries thus hindering his performance.
In the first round he threw the javelin 78.2 meters while the 2nd round was 77.51 meters, a long way from his 88 and 90 meter throws.
Indian Neeraj Chopra won the gold. He became the first Indian to win a world athletics title by securing javelin gold in Budapest.
The Olympic champion threw 88.17m to beat Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who took silver with a season’s best 87.82m.
A year ago, Peters beat Chopra, 25, in Eugene, Oregon to win the world title.
Kirani James, the 2011, world 400 meters gold medalist and the 2022 silver medalist, finished fifth in the final but was subsequently disqualified from the Men’s 400 metres final for lane infringement. Jamaican Antonio Wilson won the 400 meters 44.22 seconds.
The lone female in the Grenada team Halle Hazzard finished fifth in her 100 meters heat and did not qualify for the second round of competition. However, she recorded a personal best of 11.34 seconds. Sha’Carri Richardson won the women’s 100 meters in a championship record 10.65 seconds
The World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 concluded on Sunday (August 27) after nine days of thrilling action in which superstars of the sport added to their legacy and new stars emerged as global champions.
The United states won the most medals – 12 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze followed by Canada 4 gold, 2 silver, , Spain 4 gold, 1 silver, Jamaica 3 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze; Kenya was fifth in the medal table, 3 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze with Ethiopia sixth 2 gold, 4 silver 3 bronze.
A record total of 2100 athletes from 195 countries (plus the Athlete Refugee Team) have competed in the Hungarian capital, watched by more than 400,000 ticketed spectators from 120 countries, and produced one world record, one world U20 record, seven championship records, 11 area records and 73 national records.
The heightened competitiveness provided enormous drama in the field events in particular, where 13 athletes across eight events recorded their best mark in the final round of competition to improve their positions, five of them clinching the gold medal.
