Grenada will be represented by three athletes at the Para Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, November 17 to 27. It’s the first time the Spice Isle will participate in the premier Paralympics Games in the Americas.
Leading the Grenada team is Junior Commonwealth Games bronze medalist in the Discus Tyler Smith. He will again look for honors in the Discus, competing in the F24 classification.
Smith speaking to GBN about preparation and expectations for the upcoming events, said he is looking forward to bringing home gold this time around.
Nickel Walters, gold medalist in the javelin in the 2021 Arizona Desert games, participates in the Javelin and Discus and Cyclist Sheldon Francios (is this supposed to be Francis or Francois) will compete for the first time in Paralympics.
He will be accompanied by cycle coach Troy Felix.
Sheldon’s events are the 10KM road race, individual time trials and short races, Sheldon’s best time for a 32 KM Individual Time Trial in 2023 is 1:70:19 l.
At the Criterium races, his best time is one hour and for short races, depending on the course and road conditions, two hours. The cyclist, who has both sight and hearing challenges, is a consistent competitor in national competitions staged by the Grenada Cycling Association and the Grenada Triathlon Association.
Boca Secondary School physical education and games teacher Ronald Charles is the coach for athletes Nickel Walters and Tyler Smith. Manager of the team is Bassanio Nicholas.
The Grenada Paralympics Committee says the athletes and coaches have invested much time into their preparations for the games and is optimistic they will all do their best.
The Grenada Paralympics Committee is grateful to the Ministry of Sports/National Lottery and the Grenada Olympic Committee for their financial support ensuring the team’s participation.
