From Carifta gold and NBA camp to DNS; reviewing Aaron Antoine’s topsy-turvy 2022

2022 started with a bang for 18-year-old Trinidad and Tobago athlete Aaron Antoine. Now, though, it’s likely to end with a whimper.

Antoine, a talented athlete in the high jump and long jump as well as basketball, spent part of March at an elite development camp hosted by the NBA Latin America Academy in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

By April, the Presentation College (San Fernando) student was in Kingston, Jamaica, where he set a national junior record en route to gold in the high jump at the Carifta Games. And in June, he added the NGC-NAAATT National Open High Jump crown to his growing trophy bag.

However, the six-foot-10 NGC Youth Elite Program (YEP) athlete hasn’t had much success since then.

This week, Antoine retired from The upcoming FIBA ​​3×3 U-18 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary due to serious injuries. But there was nothing deliberate about his non-appearance at the Cali 2022 World U-20 Athletics Championships, hosted in Santiago de Cali, Colombia.

Antoine was struggling with a “constant pain” in his calves ahead of the high jump qualifier in Colombia – although, in training on Emancipation Day, he matched the 2.05m jump that gave him the open championship title.

His first day of competition was on August 2.

“In the morning of [qualifying round]i was able to do a little thing [on my calves]”, Antoine said. “We arrived at [training stadium] about ten to eight. I ran a lap and went back to the massage therapist (Anthony Walcott) for a check-up.”

The “training stadium” was approximately three to five minutes’ drive from the main stadium, the Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero, while the treatment area – where Antoine went for his massage – was approximately 300 meters from the call room area.

Antoine said he never heard the call for the incident while his trainer, Wellington Wilson – who had been in and out of the treatment area – said he only heard an indecipherable noise from the PA system.

“I haven’t heard of Trinidad and Tobago or the name Aaron Antoine,” the Couva youth explained. “We went back to the call room area, but no one was there.”

In a panic, Antoine and his team, led by manager Michelle Stoute, scrambled to find a bus to get him to the Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero in time to compete. It was around 9.20. The event was scheduled to start at 10:20.

A veteran of the sport, who spoke to Wired868 on condition of anonymity, explained the “calling system” in the major championships, which hindered Antoine.

“The first call is a call for all athletes in the event to report; it’s very much like a pronouncement for you to mark as present,” the source said. “The athlete or someone acting on behalf of the athlete may report. If it’s a three-call system, call two is to check your uniform – logos for example have to match a certain size, so does the length of the nail(s) on your running shoe. [so as] to protect the runway.

“Items in your bag are also checked as some items such as electronics are not allowed.”

The third and final call is for the athletes to move into the arena of competition.

Blocked from boarding a bus tasked with transporting female runners for the women’s 100m race, scheduled for 12:30 p.m., Antoine eventually boarded a bus carrying spectators to the venue. He arrived at the Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero before the start of the high jump event – but, critically, after routine checks had been completed.

“I talked to one of the officials and told them I wanted to run,” Antoine said Wired868. “I could see the high jumpers going through their warm-up runs.”

Instead, Antoine was assigned a DNS designation (not started) while a protest on his behalf by the Trinidad and Tobago contingent was rejected by the Jury of Appeal.

“It was really hard to watch the high jump final in Cali,” Antoine said. “I was happy that the Jamaican (Brandon Pottinger) won, but when I saw the height of 2.14m I felt like I could have won it eventually.”

Antoine leapt 2.16m in Kingston, Jamaica to beat Pottinger to win the Carifta gold earlier this year – silencing partisan spectators on ‘The Office’ in the process. But you could hear a pin drop in the Trinidad and Tobago camp that afternoon as they watched Pottinger become a world junior champion while T&T’s lanky athlete was a mere spectator.

Antoine admitted he fought back tears as he explained the catastrophic chain of events to his teammates.

“The world leader going into this event was a height of 2.26m, so I was really surprised by the heights I saw in qualifying,” said Antoine. “I had a jump of 2.05 meters in practice and that would put me in the final. I thought people would have jumped about 2.12 meters to get through to the final.”

He could not shake the fact that he has recently improved on the jump that gave Pottinger the gold medal.

“That put the final nail in my coffin!” Antoine said.

NAAATT President George Commissiong was contacted for comment on what happened at the Cali high jump competition, but declined to comment on the matter.

Antoine hoped to find comfort from his others love: basketball; and, specifically, the FIBA ​​3×3 World Cup. His basketball assets are evident and his appearance at an NBA camp in Latin America suggests he already has international attention.

“[The NBA camp] it was a fantastic experience especially because I consider myself an amateur in basketball”, he said. “It showed me the level other dancers my age were at and the difference in playing style compared to the Trinidadian dancers. It gave me motivation to safely continue playing basketball”.

By Antoine’s own admission, the physical demands of basketball and court games are chalk and cheese – as required by the previous sprint continuous sprint, shuttle, jumps and change of direction. But he wants to remain a two-time athlete for as long as possible and is even looking for out-of-state schools that will facilitate his dream.

“It’s not really a question I like to answer when it comes to just deciding to do high jump or play basketball,” he said. “I would like to go as far as possible playing both sports.”

Dr Jason Pilgrim – an athletic trainer whose CV includes work with the T&T Red Force cricket team, USA Cricket, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well as local netball and athletics – praised Antoine for his strides in both sports and noted that a number of American football players also did track and field at the collegiate level.

NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain also competed in track and field events at Overbrook High School, including the high jump, before going on to secure an absurd number of NBA records.

There were also local references, as Pilgrim pointed to Jared Elcock, Jereem Richards and Richard Thompson as athletes who competed in multiple track and field events during their careers.

“I would actually like to see more dual athletes between the ages of 6-15,” said Pilgrim, a director at Sports Medic TT. “I think we specialized too early. If you want to pursue a two-sport college career, do it.

“Sure, in a contact sport you can bump into someone and get hurt badly, but being a dual athlete builds a bigger foundation when it comes to physical education.”

However, he warned of the importance of dual athletes managing their workload in order to ensure longevity in the sport. Open communication with the coaches and management team of both sports, along with a strong physical foundation, is key to ensuring that the athlete is not “overworked.”

Coincidentally, Antoine has struggled with serious injuries since Carifta. He didn’t finish his routine at the NGC-sponsored NAAATT Open Championship in June, although he did enough to take first place.

And, in the end, injuries cost him his ambition to also compete in the FIBA ​​3×3 U-18 World Cup.

“I made the decision not to participate for various reasons,” Antoine said Wired868. “The original reason is that it was very difficult for me mentally at the time, but I went to the doctor [on Thursday] and he told me to call it a season because of the condition my body is in.

“I have some injuries: calf, ankle and knee… The doctor said I just need a few weeks off.”

With the U-20 World Athletics Championships now in his rearview mirror and the FIBA ​​3×3 U-18 World Cup no longer on his radar, Antoine says he has a point to prove at the 2023 Carifta Games and 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games.

“I feel like I have things to prove to myself and to God,” he said. “I will continue to thank Jesus Christ no matter what. Anything can happen, so I always keep God by my side.”

When you see Aaron, you immediately feel the big 6-foot-10 presence. And rest assured, he’ll be rolling in his army of two, too.

One hopes the talented teenager can avoid injury as he pursues his dual-sport dream.