"I was not going into the race expecting to win, but I knew I was mentally and physically ready to race," said the Conquerall Mills resident, who won a gold medal in the 3-km steeplechase on August 1 in Trinidad and Tobago.

 "My plan was to run the first two kilometres with the leader, then go for it in the last kilometre."

 Mission accomplished.

 "I ran just behind [the leader] until there were 500 metres to go. I knew I had to take it now if I really wanted the gold, so I passed him and closed the last lap in 65 seconds. My coach yelling and the rest of the team really helped for the last two laps."

 Despite humid temperatures in the mid-30s, he ended up with a personal best time of 9:05.

 "Needless to say, he had a huge smile on his face and was just on air afterwards," said his coach, Tanya Daniels.

 "His teammates were very, very excited for him as well."

 After winning a gold medal at the junior nationals last month, the 17 year old said none of his success would be possible without his coach and mentor from the Bluenose Athletics Club.

 "Tanya Daniels puts countless hours into this sport each week. No one from the club would be where they are without her, so I would like to thank her for that from everyone in the club."

 Mr. Wolter's teammate, Rachael McIntosh, placed fifth in the heptathlon at the Pan Am Games on the heels of her own gold-medal performance at the junior nationals.

 "Rachael did very well, was fifth overall in a very tough two days of competition, with the gold medallist being ranked second in the world in the IAAF rankings," said Ms Daniels.

 "This being her first national team experience [and] fourth lifetime heptathlon, she really held her seven events together well, and this time showed her true world-class potential."

 Both athletes are expected to compete at this month's Canada Games in Prince Edward Island.

 Ms McIntosh has accepted a full NCAA Division 1 athletic scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh for this fall, while Mr. Wolter will be entering his Grade 12 year at Park View Education Centre.