Eldred Henry registered an 11th place finish in shot put at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile on Friday, November 3, 2023. Photo: Todd van Sickle

Eldred Henry and Djimon L. Gumbs competed in the shot put event against a field of 11 other competitors at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games on Friday, November 3, 2023. Photo: Todd van Sickle

VI sailor Thad A. Lettsome would save his best starts for last in the final day of sailing at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, and he was able to post a 12th and 13th in the final two races of the series on November 2, 2023. Photo: Todd van Sickle

VI sailor Thad A. Lettsome would save his best starts for last in the final day of sailing, and he was able to post a 12th and 13th in the final two races of the series.

Thad also had his best downwind of the regatta, passing 4 boats on a single leg. 

With 4 Olympic berths still up for grabs (2 for North America and 2 for South America), the tension was high amongst the 22 competitors.

In the end, Puerto Rico and Aruba took the two North America spots, besting the Canadian sailor with just the single last race. 

According to coach Chris Watters, with over 14 Olympic games’ experience within the fleet, Thad would continue to get better from the start of the regatta through the end of the week.

Watters added that with Thad being one of the younger competitors racing at just 21 years old, the ability to get better and compete with the top sailors is all that plausible.

Thad will now head back to Tulane university and finish off his degree, and with just 4 days’ break until he competes in the US college single handed nationals in the ILCA 7 next weekend.

Eldred finishes 11^th in Shot Put

Eldred Henry and Djimon L. Gumbs competed in the shot put event against a field of 11 other competitors at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games on Friday, November 3, 2023.

With the first and third attempts deemed fouls, Eldred’s accepted result was a distance of 16.98 meters (55.70 feet) for an 11th place finish.

Djimon, competing in his second event of the Games, recorded 3 fouled attempts after his initial throw of 18.29 meters (60:00 feet) was discarded when officials called for a restart of the event.

Deya Erickson (100m hurdles) was the other athlete representing the VI in Santiago.

Meanwhile, Thad A. Lettsome will be the flag bearer at the Santiago 2023 Closing Ceremony today, Sunday, November 5, 2023.

The VI delegation will depart Chile on Monday, November 6.