MACHEL CEDENIO struck gold in a keenly contested men’s 400 metres race at the International Athletics Meeting in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, on Tuesday. The T&T quartermiler stopped the clock at 45.34 seconds.

Cedenio, Jamaican Nathon Allen and Nigeria’s Emmanuele Bamidele battled for supremacy on the home straight. But it was Cedenio who got home first, outleaning his rivals at the line to secure victory.

Allen and Bamidele were just behind the winner, both clocking 45.39 seconds. Allen had a slight edge in the photo finish, and was awarded silver. Bamidele got bronze, finishing ahead of fourth-placed American Obi Igbokwe (45.70).

Cedenio’s victory was his second in the 400 this season. In his 2019 individual opener, at the Tom Jones Memorial in Florida, USA on April 27, the 23-year-old won the men’s one-lap in 45.03 seconds. He was faster on June 8 at the Racers/Adidas Grand Prix, in Jamaica, clocking a season’s best 44.92 to pick up silver. In between, he anchored T&T to 4x400m gold at the IAAF World Relays in Yokohama, Japan.