Olympic and world medallist sprinter Deon Lendore dies in car crash at age 29

Trinidad and Tobagos Olympic and world 4x400m medallist Deon Lendore has died at the age of 29 World Athletics the sports governing body informed on TuesdayLendore according to reports died in a car crash in Texas USA late on Monday The news of his death first appeared on social media in the United States and the Caribbean and was later confirmed by the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic CommitteeThe threetime Olympian who anchored his nation to relay bronze at the 2012 Olympic Games in London also claimed two world indoor 400m bronze medals and a 4x400m medal of the same colourBorn in Mt Hope on October 28 1992 the sprinter started out at local club Abilene Wildcats before moving to the United States to take up a scholarship at Texas AampM UniversityHe made his global debut at the 2009 World U18 Championships in Bressanone and competed at the World U20 Championships in Moncton in 2010 The following year he ran at his first senior World Athletics Championships in Daegu and less than 12 months later at the age of 19 he made his Olympic debut in LondonAfter racing in the 400m heats in the UK capital Lendore helped the Trinidad and Tobago team to two national 4x400m records as they first won their heat and then improved again to claim the bronze medal behind the Bahamas and USA with Lendore holding off Great Britains Martyn Rooney on the anchor legHe dipped under 45 seconds for 400m for the first time in 2013 running 4494 to claim NCAA silver and improved to his personal best PB of 4436 the following year Lendore was unbeaten in individual events in 2014 counting the NCAA 400m titles among his victories and he later received The Bowerman award The 4503 PB he ran indoors that year remains the national recordLendore claimed his first world championship medal in 2015 when he formed part of Trinidad and Tobagos silver medalwinning squad in Beijing and he secured two world indoor medals the following year gaining bronze in both the 400m and 4x400m in Portland He repeated his 400m feat indoors in Birmingham two years later and in 2019 he ran the opening leg as part of Trinidad and Tobagos winning 4x400m performance at the World Athletics Relays in YokohamaAfter his second Olympic appearance in Rio in 2016 Lendore competed at his third Games in Tokyo in 2021 helping his team to eighth place in the 4x400m final and reaching the 400m semifinals He went on to finish third in the Wanda Diamond League 400m final in Zurich last SeptemberWords cannot adequately express our sadness at the devastating and untimely loss of threetime Olympian and Olympic and World Championships bronze medallist Deon Lendore who has been an inspiration and motivation to us all both on and off the track read a tribute from the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic CommitteeDeon has flown the Trinidad and Tobago flag with pride honour patriotism and an indomitable will throughout his career while helping and inspiring many We express our deepest and heartfelt condolences to his family friends teammates coaches Abilene Club Community of Arima and all who he would have touchedIt is a sad day for the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic and Commonwealth Sports Movement the statement saidHe would have been one of the medal contenders at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later this yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever