T&T's Gordon opens season

SCARBOROUGH, Tobago, (CMC):

Jehue Gordon narrowly missed out on one of the 10 fastest times for the year in the men's 400 metres hurdles on Saturday at the Tobago Falcons Games.

The reigning World Junior champion opened his season with a time of 50.11 seconds at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.

It was a little off the mark of 49.65 he set last year to win the event.

Speaking after the race, Gordon said he was happy with the win, but he was still finding his feet, after undergoing surgery late last year.

Gordon finished strongly, passing Eric Javier Alejandro of Puerto Rico after the last hurdle to take the win.

early lead

Alejandro took an early lead in the race out of lane six, with Gordon on his inside and seemed set to upset the T&T hero.

But Gordon dug deep and edged ahead Alejandro less than 40 metres from the finish.

Alejandro was second in 50.28, with Gordon's Memphis clubmate Brandon Benjamin claiming the bronze in a personal best of 53.93 seconds.

The meet also featured a number of age group athletes, warming up for the CARIFTA Games to be staged in Jamaica next weekend.