Beaming with national pride, several Cayman Islands athletes returned home on Monday, 8 Aug., after recording personal best times, qualifying for finals, and capturing a plate gold medal during the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
“Obviously, I am extremely blown away by the games and proud of our athletes who performed very successfully,” Lori Powell, president of the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee told the Compass.
Representing Cayman were 21 athletes competing across swimming, athletics, boxing, squash, cycling and gymnastics.
Squash
After dropping their first-round match to Malta, Cayman squash players Julian Jervis and Cameron Stafford dominated their way to winning an historic medal in the doubles plate final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Sunday, 7 Aug.
Teams that lost in the first round of the Games were entered into the plate round, where they then competed against each other. In their plate games, Jervis and Stafford defeated three other teams to earn gold.
The Cayman pair defeated Barbados 2-0 by identical 11-7 scores in the final to become the first squash players in Cayman’s history to secure medals at the Commonwealth Games.
Prior to winning gold in the plate final, Jervis, 24, and Stafford, 30, blew through their opposition, with 2-0 wins against Ghana in the quarter-finals and Papua New Guinea in the semi-finals.
Swimming
Cayman produced an abundance of personal best times, with standout performances coming from Sierrah Broadbelt and James Allison, who won their respective heats.
However, 16-year-old Harper Barrowman became the first female swimmer in Cayman’s history to compete in a Commonwealth Games final.
Barrowman recorded a personal best of 9:16.49 in her 800-metre freestyle qualifier. She then chopped more time off in the finals, clocking 9:13.97, and placed eighth overall.
Gymnastics
Igor Magalhaes and Karthik Adapa flipped their way to reserve places during the all-around gymnastics qualifiers. Following his performance, Magalhaes, 19, was positioned as first reserve, meaning if an already qualified finalist was unable to compete, he would take their place.
In the end, Magalhaes moved up to become the first Caymanian Commonwealth gymnastic finalist. He finished with a score of 57.650 to place 17th overall.
Cycling
Victor Magalhaes and Michael Testori took to the roads in the men’s time trials, with both finishing in the top 50. Testori crossed the line in 38th position, ahead of Magalhaes, who placed 41st.
Testori and Magalhaes then joined fellow Caymanian cyclist Nathaniel Forbes in the 160-kilometre men’s road race, where the trio were among 51 cyclists who did not make it to the leaderboard.
Athletics
Long-jumper and Cayman flag-bearer Louis Gordon was first up in the track-and-field events. Gordon jumped 7.43 metres and finished ninth overall.
Teammate Rasheem Brown then hit the track for the 110m hurdles, where he finished fifth in his heat, clocking 13.76 seconds.
Shalysa Wray closed the show for Cayman athletics in the 400m dash in 53.92 seconds. She placed sixth in her heat.
Three-time Olympian sprinter Kemar Hyman was also scheduled to compete but was forced to pull out of his 100m race after he tested positive for COVID.
Boxing
Hepseba Angel, the sole boxer representing Cayman at the Commonwealth Games, was matched up against Canadian national champion Tammara Thibeault in opening quarter-final bout of the 70-75 kilogramme (middleweight) division.
Thibeault lived up to expectations, ending the Caymanian’s bout two minutes and 45 seconds into the first round. The 25-year-old Canadian, who has more than 30 fights under her belt, would go on to win gold.
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