On April 4, Grenada earned its inaugural gold medal at the 2026 CARIFTA Games, thanks to a standout performance from rising javelin star Deshawn Smart, who dominated the Under-17 Boys’ Javelin Throw competition to claim the top spot on the podium. Smart delivered a career-defining winning throw of 65.09 meters, setting a new personal best and earning Grenada its only medal by the close of the Games’ first day of competition.
While Smart’s gold-medal-winning distance fell 3.76 meters short of the existing CARIFTA Games record of 68.85 meters set by Antigua and Barbuda’s Maliek Francis in 2024, the result cements the young athlete’s position as one of the most promising young track and field talents across the Caribbean region.
Smart’s breakthrough victory at the 2026 CARIFTA Games is far from an overnight success; it is the end result of years of consistent, incremental improvement that spans his competitive career across primary and secondary school competitions. His trajectory of growth leaves no question of his rising potential:
In 2023, Smart claimed his first major regional youth title at the GUT National Primary School Championships, taking home the Under-13 gold with a throw of 30.24 meters while representing St Patrick’s Branch. Just one year later, at InterCol 2024, he placed sixth with an improved best throw of 36.62 meters, a gain of more than six meters in just 12 months. By 2025, Smart’s rapid progression continued, as he set a new Sub-Junior national record with a throw of 58.54 meters at that year’s InterCol competition, jumping more than 21 meters from his 2023 personal best.
In the lead-up to the 2026 CARIFTA Games, Smart carried his winning momentum into domestic competitions. At InterCol 2026, he claimed the Junior national title with a throw of 64.56 meters, a performance that helped his school, St Andrew’s Anglican Secondary School (SAASS), secure a historic sweep of both the boys’ and girls’ overall division titles. Just weeks before CARIFTA, Smart won the national Under-17 title at the 2026 ARIZA National Championships with a throw of 65.07 meters, coming within centimeters of his eventual CARIFTA-winning mark.
As of the close of Day 1 competition, Smart’s 65.09-meter throw remains the top performance from the entire Grenadian delegation at the 2026 CARIFTA Games, marking a high note to start the country’s campaign at one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious youth athletic competitions.