Bringing bronze back to Duke City
Solomon Ran 2nd Leg For Trinidad and Tobago
Former Lobo and Albuquerque native helped Trinidad and Tobago relay team shine at the Olympics.
LONDON — Jarrin Solomon, a UNM grad and Albuquerque native, is bringing a shiny souvenir from the London Olympics back to the Duke City — a bronze medal.
The former Lobo ran the second leg for Trinidad and Tobago men’s 4x400-meter relay team, which finished in 2 minutes, 59.4 seconds in Friday’s final. It was good enough for third place behind the gold medal winner Bahamas (2:56.72) and the runner-up United States (2:57.05).
“Thank GOD for tonight!! It still hasn’t sunk in yet but the feeling of crossing the line and realizing we were olympic medalists was unreal!” Solomon tweeted.
Solomon matched the best finish at the Olympics among former UNM athletes who competed in track and field. The only other ex-Lobo to take home a medal from the games was Dick Howard, who placed third in the men’s 400 hurdles at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
The bronze-medal winning time by Solomon, Ade Alleyne-Forte, Lalonde Gordon and Deon Lendore broke the Trinidad and Tobago national record.
Solomon’s father, Michael, is a native of the small Caribbean nation. The elder Solomon also competed in the Olympics for Trinidad and Tobago in the 4x400, finishing sixth in 1976 and 1980.
While only four Albuquerque natives have competed in the Olympics, Solomon’s third-place finish bests Shelia Burrell, who placed fourth in the women’s heptathlon at the 2004 Athens Games.