Gold, silver, bronze

This, despite a slight hamstring injury.

She set a personal best time of 13.10 seconds.

It was also an amazing turnaround for the 21-year old who had been disqualified from the women’s 200m T44 heats on Wednesday.

These three medals meant that by the close of the Rio Games yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago stood at position 56, higher that countries such as Japan, Israel and Jamaica.

Simply historic. While most will say these Games, and the Olympic Games, are about winning medals, that’s not the full story. They are also about allowing individuals a chance to represent their nation.

The Paralympic Games are today seen as symbol of sportsmanship, compassion and diversity. Ironically, though, the event has its origins in war. The Stoke Mandeville Games, precursors to the modern edition, came directly out of efforts to have a sports competition for British World War II veteran patients with spinal cord injuries. The Games have come a long way since those origins, but they remain relevant.

All over the world, strides are being made in assisting the differently abled to live fully functional lives, whether through technology or medical advances. But what the Games do is demonstrate, in a palpable way, the fact that disability is not the end of life. In fact, for many of these athletes, their status has opened doors to aspects of themselves they could only dream of. Each representative provides inspiration in a world often devoid of hope. The discipline demonstrated by the participants is also a powerful message to all who seek out excellence.

And while the days of World War II are long over, the Games still have a place in a world ravaged by conflict, facing terrorism and environmental crises. The entire Paralympic Games team must be congratulated for their effort. And the State must reward the medallists in a manner that befits their unique achievement.

“As a very small country which you can hardly find on a world map, we have a tremendous legacy of which we can all be proud,” Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley remarked a few weeks ago at a reception held to honour returning Olympians. “That legacy goes way back.” “We must be proud that there are people from this nation who took it upon themselves to express their talent carrying our flag in today’s world where that means so much,” Rowley said. “You with your talent chose to make the sacrifices to get you on the world stage.” These comments apply, equally, to our Paralympians.

Rowley also apologised on behalf of the nation for unseemly comments made on social media and elsewhere in relation to the performance at the Olympics. He provided some insight into the bitterness and vitriol. “I know that some things have not gone well and I want to apologise for the untoward comments made,” the Prime Minister said. “Those comments were not really aimed at you. It was the environment of problems in the country.” Going forward, Rowley added, “There are some things that have to be done on the level of sport administration.

We are going to sit down in a very dispassionate way and determine a proper structure for our athletes who are seeking to make it towards the world stage. We want to differentiate between support and reward because the lines are beginning to be blurred.” The scope of this exercise must include not just Olympians and Paralympians, but also all athletes aiming to attain world recognition.

For now, we big up Akeem, Nyoshia and company.