OMG Magazine | Thursday 31, January, 2013 • PAGE 29
Shaunna Downey 18, Tunapuna
Shaunna is a shot-put and discus athlete who is a member of the Burnley athletic club in Tacarigua. She trains almost every day and has been in the sport for four years now. She has represented Trinidad and Tobago in the Carifta and Pan American Games and won her first gold medal in 2010 in the Carifta Games held in the Cayman Islands. Among world youth athletes Shaunna ranks a stunning 17th. Her training includes two days in the field and three days in the gym for strength. She is six feet two inches tall and is a very pleasant young lady to be around. The persons who introduced Shaunna to shot-put and discus were Mr Prime at El Dorado East Secondary and coach Joyce Thomas. She tried them and loved them and they have been her passion ever since. Shaunna’s first big win came one year after starting when she went to the Carifta Games. She says she will be putting all her energy into training and competing for the next few years and will see where it takes her. Shaunna says her friends find her funny and she loves to laugh a lot. When asked about her favourite past-time Shaunna says it has to be throwing. She really loves the sport and getting better at it every day is her obsession. She loves teddy bears and chocolates and likes to travel, now that she has gotten over her fears. She loves it and has travelled to many places like the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Pennsylvania, Florida, France, England and Panama, to name a few. Her favourite place so far is France because the people there are so friendly and gracious. She says in the future she would like to get a scholarship to further her training. Her career will be something dealing with sports. Shaunna’s OMG moment was when she represented Trinidad and Tobago at the Carifta Games and won her first gold medal. She says standing on that podium, hearing the national anthem play for her achievement, the feeling was like no other. She was just 16 at the time.
Photographer:
Stephen Doobal