Roban secures SVG’s first gold medal at NACAC Championships

HANDAL ROBAN EARNED the first ever gold medal for St Vincent and the Grenadines at the North Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Championships, winning the men’s 800m in a record 1:42.87 at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex in Freeport, Bahamas.

Roban, the silver medallist at these championships three years ago when he was still a teenager, trailed the USA’s Brandon Miller, and Jamaica’s Navasky Anderson after the first lap. He moved into second place shortly before the final curve, and overtook Miller in the final 20 metres to smash the championship record, which previously stood at 1:45.79. It was also a personal best by more than a second.

The 2023 NACAC U-23 champion was followed by Miller (1:43.15); Tyrice Taylor in a Jamaican record of 1:43.7; Anderson (1:44.18); and Canada’s Abdullahi Hassan (1:44.25).

Nine other championship records fell over the weekend. Canada’s Jerome Blake was responsible for two of those as he won the 100m in 9.95, then teamed up with 200m winner Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney – two of his teammates from the victorious 2024 Olympic squad – and Eliezer Adjibi to win the 4x100m in 38.05. Teammate Foster Malleck, meanwhile, rewrote the mark in the men’s 1500m (3:37.54).

Other newly minted record holders were the USA’s Taylor Roe in the women’s 10,000m (32:19.84); Austin West in the decathlon (8038 pts); and Daniel Michalski in the 3000m steeplechase (8:14.07). Josh Awotunde equalled the championship record to win the men’s shot put with a 21.68m throw.

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