PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The Trinidad and Tobago government has expressed sadness at the death of Jizelle Salandy, the women’s world boxing champion who died following a vehicular accident yesterday.

Sports Minister Gary Hunt described Salandy, who on Boxing Day last year, successfully defended her eight world boxing titles against the Dominican Republic’s Yahaira Hernandez, as an “icon” and pledged that the government was prepared to meet the funeral expenses of the former world champion.

“The sporting fraternity … has lost a tremendous icon … not every day a country produces a world champion,” Hunt told a news conference, adding that Salandy had been a “tremendous and great motivator to the young people in Trinidad and Tobago”.

“It is a sad loss,” Hunt said, as he appealed to young persons in particular to exercise “caution on our highways”.

National women’s footballer Tamer Watson who was also injured in the accident is still in hospital.

There were many calls on various radio talk-shows yesterday expressing disbelief at the death of the 21-year-old boxer, many urging young persons to be more careful on the nation’s highways.

Earlier last week, double Olympic silver medallist Richard Thompson suffered injuries in a vehicular accident.

The 23-year-old sprinter, recently named as T&T’s Sportsman-of-the-Year for his exploits at the Beijing Olympics, suffered a small cut to the forehead, a blow to the knee and had also complained of neck pain. He was released from hospital on Saturday.