Commonwealth Youth Games Day 4 – NSW athletes close the Games with an 11 medal haul

11 August 2023

Commonwealth Youth Games Day 4 – NSW athletes close the Games with an 11 medal haul

The NSW athletes claimed four medals on the final day at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, closing their campaign with 11 medals across nine athletes.

Competing in his second event of the Games, Jackson Love was dominating the T38 Long Jump early with jumps of 4.54m, 4.84m and 4.86m. Then his Australian teammate Ori Drabkin leapt a threatening 4.55m, then 4.62m in round 6. But Jackson survived to take gold with his best jump of 4.86m.

Another great run by our mixed gender 4x400m relay team in the final. Matthew Hunt got the team under way with a strong leg, then as Jasynta Lampret was collecting the baton as the anchor, the Nigerian team were hot on her heels as the teams were in third and fourth places. The Nigeria leg was being run by 100/200m gold medallist Faith Okwose who had run 11.26 and 23.49 at these Games. But just like the heat, Jasynta blasted away and was chasing down the leaders. Incredibility she held her form to the line as Australia easily took the bronze in 3:26.23 – two seconds in front of Nigeria and just outside the Australian record.

In the 800m final, Fleur Cooper looked comfortable on the fast first lap. Down the back straight she was boxed in as the British leader Phoebe Gill made a break. Fleur moved clear over the last 150m, to sprint home for a bronze medal in a half second PB time of 2:05.86.

Waiting to day four to compete, high jumper Izzi Louison-Roe cleared 1.70m, then 1.75m on her first attempts, before passing 1.78m and missing at 1.81m. In her Australian debut she won the bronze medal.

After negotiating three round, Grace Krause lined up in the 200m final. Away well, she ran a terrific bend coming home in seventh place in a time of 24.46 into a 1.5m/s wind.

An amusing moment on the final day, when at the medal presentation Fleur Cooper reached down to collect her medal and put it around her own neck. Well for many of these athletes they have only known medal presentations during COVID where we invited athletes to do this!

The NSW contingent finished the Games with a fantastic tally of 11 medals.

2 gold - Delta Amidzovski

Gold, Bronze - Jackson Love

Gold - George Wells

Silver - Chelsy Wayne

Bronze - Izzi Louison-Roe

Bronze - Fleur Cooper

Bronze - Grace Krause

Bronze - Matthew Hunt

Bronze - Jasynta Lampret

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Image: Australia’s medal relay team (image courtesy of Greg Wiencke)