Richards, Bertrand cop TTOC top sports awards

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Sprinters Jereem Richards and Leah Bertrand were named Sportsman and Sportswoman of 2024 by the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) during their 30th Annual Award Ceremony at the Government Plaza Auditorium, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

Richards was T&T’s top performer at the Paris Olympic Games in July/August last year, placing fourth in the Men’s 400-meter final.

He missed the bronze by four-hundredths of a second to Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga after clocking 43.78 seconds.

With this performance, the T&T sprinter, thirty-year-old Richards, earned a new national record and propelled into 16th spot on the all-time Men’s 400m performance list.

Leah Bertrand (Trinidad and Tobago) competes during the Women’s’ 100m Semi-Final on Day 8 of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on Aug. 3, 2024 in Saint-Denis, France. Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Meanwhile, T&T’s reigning national 100-meter sprint champion, Leah Bertrand, finished 9th in the Women’s 100-meter semi-final three, ultimately missing out on a spot in the final.

She clocked 11.37 seconds in the race, won by Jamaica’s Tia Clayton, who clocked 10.89 seconds, while Great Britain’s Daryll Neita was the second automatic qualifier in 10.97 seconds.

Bertrand aimed at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Outdoor Sprint title. However, she had to settle for seventh place in the women’s 100-meter final on the fourth and final day of the Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA, in June, where Bertrand got to the line in 11.05 seconds.