AFTER hearing that his former training partner Deon Lendore, 29, had died on Monday night, Akini Thomas still sent the three-time Olympian a WhatsApp message anticipating a possible response.
But it was not to be.
Lendore's death was reported by KBTX - a CBS affiliated virtual channel - which said the crash that killed Lendore happened outside Bryan-College Station on Highway 6 in the Brazos Valley region of Texas, on Monday, just after 7 pm.
Details of the crash, which happened northwest of Houston, were not available but Texas A&M University head coach Pat Henry confirmed the news. In online reports, Henry said Lendore was on his way home from practice at the time.
The national quarter-miler, a 12-time All-American as an athlete at Texas A&M, was serving at the university as a volunteer assistant coach with 400m and 800m running athletes. He was expected to return home next week.
Thomas, 32, said he last spoke to Lendore over Christmas, and had no idea it would be their final conversation.
The pair, alongside fellow Abilene Wildcats 400m athlete Hendricks Foncette, trained together for several years and had plans to revive the club's transition programmes for junior athletes entering the senior arena.
Thomas said, 'Getting the news last night (Monday), I messaged his phone just asking for a response. I just wanted a reply from him, because I didn't believe it.
"He never replied.
'Deon is not reckless and he does not speed. He would not play with his life.
"It's still surreal and hard to digest, even though confirmation is there.'
At the club, Lendore and Foncette were known as the "twin towers" because of their height. Thomas reminisced about the last time he trained alongside Lendore - six or seven years ago - when they earned an Abilene Wildcats club record for the highest number of non-stop treks up and down Calvary Hill in Arima. Thomas does not remember the final tally but knows their joint record still stands.
'We shared a brotherly relationship because we trained together. Because of our club record, Abilene then made an internal club challenge called 'king of the hill.' But our record remains to date.
'I only got two hours' sleep last night. The tears are just flowing. We're just trying to keep it together. Club coach Charlie Joseph asked me to go see Deon's mom, but I'm not ready for that. I don't want to walk in and Deon's not there. Just the thought of his mother's cry(ing) is painful enough.'
CAREER REVIEW
World Athletics says Lendore made his global debut at the 2009 World U18 Championships and competed at the World U20 Championships in 2010. The following year he ran at his first senior World Athletics Championships and less than 12 months later, at 19, he made his Olympic debut in London.
There, he helped TT to two national 4x400m records, as the team (which also included Jarrin Solomon, Ade Alleyne-Forte and Lalonde Gordon) first won their heat and th
