Gymnast Karthik Adapa became the first Caymanian to qualify for the finals in that discipline at the Pan American Championships, with two other local athletes also able to showcase their skills.
The Pan American Championships hosted several competitions in various countries in May.
Adapa flipped to a milestone after making the finals in gymnastics, while countrymen Nathaniel Forbes and Nick Young competed in cycling and karate, respectively.
Gymnastics
Over in Santa Marta, Colombia, Adapa proved that he could hang with the region’s best and solidified himself as the standard for his country after becoming the only Caymanian gymnast to ever reach the finals.
Despite a hiatus from the sport and amid thoughts of retirement, Adapa showed that he still has a lot of tread left on his tyres.
“Finding out I made it through to finals was a rollercoaster in and of itself,” Adapa told the Compass. “Initially I had thought it was a glitch in the website, and then my mom called congratulating me about me making it. After emails and double-checking I finally was convinced I am going to compete in the Pan Am finals.”
After a masterful performance in the preliminaries, Adapa finished 12th after tallying 62.899 points across floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar – the best performance Cayman has ever seen at that event.
“The nerves I was feeling before my first performance (rings) was unlike anything I’ve felt,” he said. “Once the ice was broken, it was smooth sailing from there… I reached five personal best scores.”
He noted that while he did not make the podium, he was “thrilled’ with his accomplishments in Santa Marta.
Adapa thanked everyone in Cayman who was cheering him on, saying that “kind of motivation can’t be found anywhere else”.
“There will be more to come, this is only the beginning.”
Cycling
Forbes hit the roads in São José dos Campos, Brazil for the Pan-American Continental Championships, where he completed 88 out of 100 miles; he was cut after failing to meet a time standard.
However, Forbes’ performance was good enough to place him 59th out of 79 riders overall.
His head coach Ken Gokool told the Compass that the athlete was unable to finish due to difficulties in the latter part of the race when climbing hills.
“His performance on the day was on par with his peers,” Gokool told the Compass. “He matched the pace from the top guys in the Pan-Am region. At mile 80 he suffered some muscle spasms and lost about two minutes on the main field.
“He recovered and began his chase to catching back [up, but] had 12 miles to finish. Unfortunately, according to the [Union Cycliste Internationale] rules he was outside of the three-minute time limit and not allowed to finish. He rode a very good race and once again proved his worth as an international continental cyclist.”
Karate
Young ended the action for Cayman in Uruguay at the Pan American Senior Karate Championships.
The kata competitor was unable to advance from the first round after facing Peru, which ultimately received a higher score. However, Young’s performance was good enough to top athletes from Chile and Mexico.
“Our [Panamerican Karate Federation] goal was to hold our own with the highest level of kata in the region; we did that but did not get to go to round two,” Shihan (master) Greg Reid, of Cayman Associated School of Karate, told the Compass.
Several other competitions that fall under the Pan American Championships will continue through June with Cayman athletes expected to represent.
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