The Whitsuntide Games, one of the Caribbean’s most anticipated regional track and field competitions, recently wrapped up in Grenada, and a delegation from neighboring Barbados left the event with an impressive haul of accolades — none more notable than the historic performance of 17-year-old sprint prodigy Jalino Hamlet. As a member of Barbados’ Extreme Velocity Track and Field Club, Hamlet walked away with the Games’ highest individual honor: Most Outstanding Athlete, after shattering six competition records across multiple events.
In a post-meet interview with local media outlet Barbados TODAY, Extreme Velocity head coach Glen Williams expressed nothing short of complete satisfaction with his team’s results across the four-day competition, which drew roughly 1,100 competing athletes from across the Caribbean region. Williams noted that the 2024 iteration of the Whitsuntide Games was the largest in the event’s history, making his squad’s achievements all the more meaningful.
Williams highlighted that the majority of his athletes showed clear, measurable improvements from their previous outings, with particularly standout results coming from the club’s junior division. Many regional track and field programs consistently struggle with inconsistent performance from junior competitors, but Williams emphasized that his young athletes defied expectations, delivering dramatic personal bests and top finishes against tough competition.
Hamlet, a student at Barbados’ prestigious St Leonard’s Boys’ School, has been on a rapid upward trajectory this season, following a strong debut performance at the CARIFTA Games — another elite Caribbean track and field event also held in Grenada earlier this year. At the Whitsuntide Games, his record-breaking run spanned every round of competition he entered: he set new event records in both the heats and final of the 200-meter sprint, repeated that feat in both the preliminary rounds and final of the 400-meter sprint, and rounded out his historic performance as a member of the Under-17 Boys’ 4x100m relay team, which also set new records in both its prelim and final race.
“Six total new records at one meet — that’s why he earned the Most Outstanding Athlete trophy,” Williams explained, adding that the entire club is proud of both Hamlet’s achievements and the hard work the whole team put in to prepare for the Games. With the Whitsuntide Games now behind them, the young Barbadian athletes are set to carry this momentum into upcoming regional competitions later this year.