The 53rd edition of the Carifta Games, one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious youth track and field competitions, entered its second day of competition on Sunday at the purpose-built Kirani James Athletics Stadium in St George’s, Grenada, delivering a mix of triumph and disappointment for pre-event favorite Jamaica across the day’s sprint relay finals. Of the four sprint relay gold medals up for grabs on the day, Jamaica claimed only one victory, secured by its dynamic women’s Under-20 quartet. The team, composed of Renecia Edwards, Tiana Marshall, and 100m medalists Natrece East and Shanoya Douglas, crossed the finish line in a solid time of 43.76 seconds, outpacing second-place Trinidad and Tobago (44.17 seconds) and third-place Barbados (45.40 seconds) to claim the top spot on the podium.
Jamaica’s other relay teams did not manage to replicate that gold-medal success: both the girls’ Under-17 and boys’ Under-20 squads earned hard-fought silver medals, while the boys’ Under-17 team was forced to retire from the race after a dropped baton derailed their second exchange, ending their bid for a medal before the final handoff.
Even with the underwhelming relay performance, Jamaica entered Monday’s final day of competition with an unchallenged lead atop the overall medal table, boasting a total haul of 43 medals split between 15 gold, 16 silver, and 12 bronze. Defending its top spot from previous editions, Jamaica holds a comfortable lead over second-place Trinidad and Tobago, which has collected 25 total medals (7 gold, 9 silver, 9 bronze). The Bahamas sit third in the standings with 21 medals: 6 gold, 9 silver, and 6 bronze. Rounding out the top five competing nations, Guyana holds fourth place with 3 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze for a total of 5 medals, while host nation Grenada sits fifth with 2 gold, 2 silver, and 6 bronze for a 10-medal total.
Sunday’s competition also delivered a string of standout individual performances from Jamaican athletes, even outside the relay track. Earlier in the day, Jamaican hurdlers completed a historic clean sweep, taking home all four gold medals on offer in the 400m hurdles events across age and gender categories. One of the day’s most impressive individual wins came from teenage distance runner Javaughn Tomlin, who claimed his second gold medal of the Games by taking first place in the Under-17 boys’ 3000m, adding to the 1500m title he won on Saturday. Tomlin took control of the race from the opening laps, pulling ahead of the pack early and maintaining his lead through the final stretch to win comfortably in a time of 9:12.49. Bermuda’s Sanchez Smith took silver with 9:22.24, while Barbados’ Zindzele Renwick-Williams claimed bronze in 9:26.95.
In other individual results, Jamaica’s Sushana Johnson secured third place in the open women’s 3000m with a time of 10:26.90, finishing behind gold medalist Aniqah Bailey of Trinidad and Tobago (10:14.10) and silver medalist Laila McIntyre of Barbados (10:15.61). In the men’s decathlon, Jaquan Souden improved on his fourth-place finish from the 2023 Carifta Games to take silver, tallying a total of 6,760 points. Gold went to Trinidad and Tobago’s Tyrique Vincent, who finished with 6,824 points, while Vincent’s teammate Kaleb Campbell took bronze with 6,598 points.
In the Under-20 men’s high jump, Jamaica’s Michael Neil claimed third place after clearing 2.00m — the same height reached by gold medalist David Hall of Turks and Caicos and silver medalist Joshua Williams of the Bahamas. Finally, in the Under-17 girls’ long jump, Dashanelle Clarke of Jamaica took third place with a jump of 5.54m. The gold medal went to defending champion Jazae Johnson of the Bahamas, who retained her title with a leading jump of 6.02m, while Johnson’s teammate took home silver with a 5.70m jump.