Yaima Payne became the first Barbadian representative to win gold at the United States of America Wrestling Masters Open Beach event which was contested on Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida.
Competing in the women’s 78kg, Payne who weighed in at 76 kg dominated her category which comprised three other challengers from Mexico and the United States of America (USA).
Demonstrating that she can take on the world’s best in beach wrestling, Payne won her opening match 3-2 on points against her opponent from the United States. In her second encounter, she emerged victorious 3-1 against Catherine Palmieri of Mexico.
Showing great determination to bring back the gold medal to Barbados, Payne, who has been grappling from age nine, fought well and in just under three minutes triumphed 3-2 over Estefany Garcia of the USA in her third and final match-up.
“Winning this event was a great milestone for me and my country as it is the first time Barbados has ever won an international medal in this sport. It also feels special that it has been awarded to (me) a female to do this.
Yaima Payne won gold in her weight class after three tough contests.
“I’m very proud as we need more females to participate in the sport of wrestling and it would be a good opportunity for females who want to participate in competition at this level to also consider the sport,” Payne, 40, said.
A certified national coach who is part of the Barbados Wrestling Association led by President Rollins Alleyne, Payne mentioned that the event brought back a lot of memories from her glory days as a young wrestler.
The Barbados Olympic Association made Payne’s trip to Florida a reality and she expressed thanks to them.
She also noted that Barbados needed to discover and encourage more of young people to get involved in the sport. Payne, who has previously played football for the National Sports Council as a defender, identified the beach as a great place to train.
“We have plenty of beaches for training. This event was also a great opportunity to bring together two United World Wrestling federations – the USA and Barbados. This partnership could be a great assistance when Barbados hosts the Pan American Beach Championships scheduled for November 2021,” the Cuban-born Barbadian citizen said.
The USA Open Masters is a qualifier for the World Beach Ranking Series with the first stop being July, 2021 in France. Payne’s win went a substantial way towards her collecting enough ranking points to qualify for that major event.
What made Payne’s victory that more remarkable was that with COVID-19 restrictions she was unable to train with a partner as much as she would have liked but still entered the tournament full of confidence.
(morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb)
