T&T Olympian Deon Lendore dies in car accident

Trinidad and Tobago Olympian Deon Lendore has died.

The 400-metre sprinter, it is being reported, died in a car accident in Texas, the news making the rounds on social media just before midnight Monday.

The 44.36-second runner, who made his mark at his first Olympic Games in London, 2012, helped announce T&T as one of the new hubs of 400-metre sprinting as the quartet mined bronze in the event.

Lendore would go on to represent T&T at Olympic Games in Rio four years later and again in Tokyo just last year.

Lendore also won for T&T, a silver medal at the IAAF World Championships of Athletics, achieving the feat again in the 4x400 in 2015.

Helping T&T to pull together strong teams seemed to be one of Lenore's strong suits, as he also played a big part in another 4x400 bronze medal, this time at the Pan Am Games in 2019. Those games were held in Lima, Peru.

The one-lap sprinter also excelled indoors, winning three bronze medals at the World Indoor Championships.

As a college student, Lendore enjoyed huge success at the NCAA level, winning the Bowerman award in 2014 as part of the famous Texas A&M University track team.

Lendore was also a fantastic junior, winning three Pan Am Junior Championships silver medals as well as a medal of the same colour at the Central American and Caribbean Games.

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