Matthew Caseley speaks to the CBC after his golden performance in the hammer throw event Tuesday at the Canada Games. (CBC)The host province of this year's Canada Games won its first medal Tuesday with a golden effort from Prince Edward Island's Matthew Caseley.

Caseley, of French River, captured the gold in the hammer throw at UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place. The 21-year-old was in fifth place going into the final.

"I knew I was fairly close to a medal, but the gold? I was not expecting that whatsoever," an ecstatic Caseley told CBC News.

Two throwers from British Columbia — Angus Taylor and Nolan Curtis Henderson — took silver and bronze.

Bronze in triple jump

Fellow Islander Kurt McCormack followed up Caseley's win with a bronze medal in the triple jump. McCormack, 21, from Souris, attends Dickinson State University in North Dakota.

"I had an actual injury right from the first. When I was warming up, I jammed my knee, I could tell I had tendinitis in my left knee," said McCormack.

"I tried to put that behind me, and focused on what I did for the last three years — I trained hard — and just put it all behind and put each jump out there."

Taylor Stewart won gold for Ontario in the event, and Ndiaga Diop took silver for Quebec.

McCormack has Wednesday to recover. He is due to run the 200-metre race Thursday.

The national sporting event showcasing Canada's amateur athletes is taking place in P.E.I. until Aug. 29.