Young athlete Cameron Adkins experienced the highs and lows of top-level sport inside 24 hours at the Carifta Games in Trinidad & Tobago.

The 16-year-old was on a high after winning Bermuda’s first medal at the Games when second in the under-17 1,500 metres on Saturday night but a day later he experienced disappointment after being outsprinted in the home straight to finish fourth in the 3,000 metres, his preferred event.

Given the roller-coaster nature of Adkins’s meet, it makes sense to take events chronologically, starting with his seven-second personal best to claim the silver medal in the 1,500.

“I was shocked when I crossed the line,” he said.

“Coming into the Games I was expecting a better performance in the 3,000 than the 1,500. My PB was 4min 19sec and I ran 4:12, so to come and do that was just shocking, but it felt great to finally get to celebrate with my hard work now being shown on the international stage.”

Adkins sliced his way through the pack during the race and had only local favourite Christopher Sammy, who was helped by a passionate home crowd, ahead of him at the line.

“The leaders went out way too fast and I just stayed in mid-pack as the race progressed,” he said.

“I stayed attached until about 600 metres to go, when I started to make a move and advance forward to get enough separation on the rest to get at least a silver medal and try to compete for first.

“I could hear a bit of the noise and it definitely played into his favour more than mine. To have a full Trinidadian crowd down the home stretch by his side would have helped him a lot. I tried to zone it out, race my race and come out with what I could come out with.”

It was no surprise that Adkins was inundated with messages on Saturday night after his medal-winning performance but he tried to minimise his screen time with less than 24 hours before his second final.

“I don’t have any service out here so I didn’t see any messages until a couple of hours later, after I got back to the hotel,” he said.

“I said my thank yous and extended the appreciation for all the support. But when it came to the next day I tried to just shut my phone down, refocus, prepare for the next event, forget what had happened the day before and have the same hunger.”

But while he had the hunger, Adkins did not have the legs as his exertions the previous day took a toll on his body during the 3,000 metres final, in which he was overtaken for a medal barely ten metres from the finishing line.

“I woke up that morning with fatigue in my legs,” he said.

“I went out there and raced the race as best as I could and I crossed the line with nothing left in the tank.

“I gave everything and it was disappointing not to come out with a medal but I wouldn’t have raced it any differently. I haven’t had back-to-back races since Carifta last year and my body is not used to that feeling of being fatigued and racing again, but we learn as we go.”

While there is one disappointment and one huge overachievement on his Trinidad & Tobago report, Adkins is able to reflect on a positive Carifta experience after a tough time in Grenada last year.

“It was the Sunday of travelling and before the weekend of competition in Grenada that I came down with the flu, so that was a big mental and physical setback,” he said.

“I had to compete but not in the way that I wanted to, so it was great to overcome that and come away with a medal after ten months of hard work and going away to boarding school in August. It was a relief to see the growth and development from that time to where I am in March.”

This is Adkins’s last year at the under-17 age group but he feels his experiences will help him to cope with the jump in class.

“As the years go by and I do more every year, it’s more about the experience and getting comfortable on the bigger stage,” he said.

“The training and the fitness all plays a role but if you can’t perform under the pressure, it’s all for nothing. With that hard work in the background and getting to feel confident on the start line year after year, it starts to become much easier and more natural. From my first Carifta to now it’s become a lot easier.”