Small islands with big hearts at Pan Am Games 2007

Jamaica did not do as well at the Games as expected. In athletics the team won three gold – Decathlon, 100mH (Women), 4 x 100m (Women) – and four silver medals. The Jamaicans shocked the Caribbean by recording a silver medal in the Men’s Under 20 Football segment of the event in Brazil, losing 1 – 2 to Ecuador in a football mad country where Brazil lost out in the early stages. Jamaica became only the second Caribbean team to win a medal in football at the Pan American Games. In the welterweight division of the boxing competition, Jamaica secured a bronze medal.

Barbados and the Cayman Islands both won medals in the swimming pool, much to the surprise of their delegations. It was a sight to behold as the swimmers entered the sporting annals of their respective countries with their medal successes.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Emile Abraham shocked his entire nation with what is that country’s first ever medal in a cycling road race event at the Pan American Games.

Trinidad and Tobago’s men’s hockey team gave what many saw as that country’s best ever performance at this level, missing out on the bronze medal after having shocked their way through to medal contention. The team’s performance was all the more encouraging because of the turmoil that plagued the Hockey Federation one year ago and which had threatened the future of the sport in the twin-island Republic.

The US Virgin Islands came to the Games with a relatively strong basketball team only to fall away when it mattered. The team that had defeated Puerto Rico in the regional competition to qualify for the Games fell narrowly to hosts Brazil and Puerto Rico in the competition. The team defeated Canada in the final game before bowing out of the competition.