Four years ago she missed out on a bronze medal in her Central American & Caribbean (CAC) Senior Championships debut.

However, Ashley Couper made up immeasurably for that agony on Sunday night, clinching gold in the women's 1,500 metres in her second CAC appearance.

Her time - four minutes, 27.71 seconds - was well off her personal best of 4.18 but the young Bermudian bothered not, delighting in her achievement and knowing she crossed the line with plenty in reserve.

Her conservative, but clinical, tactics worked to perfection as she held back in the early stages of the three-and-three-quarter laps before accelerating into a winning lead, leaving her three rivals to battle it out.

"I just wanted to see what they were going to do before I made my move, so I stayed behind the girl who went out first (Alelhi Tapia of Mexico) to see what she was going to do for pace.

"I knew it was slow for me to run a personal best but I wanted to stay patient. I was almost tripping on her heels because I wanted to go faster but I was telling myself to be patient because I wanted to wait until I was sure she wouldn't be able to go with me," explained Couper, speaking to The Royal Gazette yesterday.

She maintained this position for the first 700 metres before moving up on Tapia's shoulder and pouncing.

"She surged a little but then I passed her and she stayed with me for about 100 metres and then I just left her behind."

Thereafter Couper was swept up in the emotions of the occasion and fully enjoyed the biggest victory of her career to date.

"It was awesome, really amazing to be at a big championship like that and win a gold. I felt really proud to be able to bring home a medal for Bermuda.

"When I was there four years ago I just missed getting the bronze medal and I really wanted to come home with a medal and it was gold so that was even better.

"Standing up on the podium and getting a medal and the flowers and them playing the anthem and knowing they were playing that anthem for me was really awesome. It was a great feeling which I'll definitely never forget," declared the 25-year-old.

"My mum was there and I had a huge smile on my face. I was really excited."

Given her relaxed win, Couper is confident of clocking much lower times in coming meets.

"I was just concentrating on trying to get the medal. I think ran a smart race to stay behind until I was sure she (Tapia) wouldn't go with me.

"I tried to run a good last 400 and it was fast but I know I can definitely run faster. I know where I need to pick up seconds. In the first two laps I was too comfortable to run a personal best," she said, adding that she had studied a video of the race.

Couper will be on the Island training for the next three weeks as she turns her attention to next month's Pan-American Games in the Dominican Republic where she will try to go close to - if not eclipse - her personal best.

"It would be great to go under but I have missed so many training sessions and it hasn't been an ideal season but I hope to do that.

"I am just going to concentrate on keeping my speed up and doing some cross-training to keep my cardiovascular shape up. I've had really bad plantar fasciitis (inflammation because of pulling in the heel). I have it in both feet but (in) the left one (it) is very acute.

"I've missed a lot of training in the last two months and I haven't raced at all. I just need to train through the pain until after Pan-Ams when I can take some time off."

What's been a pleasant surprise is that despite having to curtail her training because of her injury, she has maintained her fitness and race composure. That, plus her CAC success, is a great fillip as she contemplates the rest of the athletics calendar.

Couper apart, Bermuda had little to celebrate at the CAC outing. Devon Bean produced the next-best performance, finishing fifth in the long jump final with an effort of 7.47 metres, while Tamika Williams placed tenth out of 11 competitors in the 800-metre final in 2:12.46 minutes.

Triple jumper Brian Wellman came nowhere near his CAC record of 17.24 metres as he crashed out of the final in that discipline.

He took just three of six jumps - fouled two - and recorded 13.85 metres in his lone legal leap. That was only good enough for last place among the nine finalists.

Xavier James (27) failed to advance past the semi-finals of the 100 and 200 metres, placing sixth (10.84 seconds) and fifth (21.54 seconds) in the respective heats.

"I was really disappointed. I think it's a lack of races. I'm not in race fitness. I just need to deal with what transpired this weekend and get ready for Pan-Ams. I believe I have to put my races together and be ready by then," said a dejected James.

Meanwhile, Michael Donawa and Richard Walcott clocked 1:56.97 and 1:57.42 respectively in the 800-metre preliminaries but neither reached the final. Donawa also clocked 4:11.15 to place seventh out of eight in the 1,500 metres which was a straight final.