标签： Jamaica

The 53rd edition of the Carifta Games, one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious annual junior athletics competitions, wrapped up on Monday at Grenada’s Kirani James Athletics Stadium, and it ended with a historic milestone for Jamaican track and field. For the 40th year running, Jamaica claimed the top spot on the overall medals table, capping off a dominant five-day performance with an impressive total haul of 71 medals.

Heading into the final day of competition, Jamaican junior athletes had already secured 43 medals across a range of events, but the team pushed for even more success to cement their leading position. By the close of the final event, the nation added 28 additional medals to its count, finishing with an uneven split of 28 gold, 27 silver, and 16 bronze medals – a total more than double that of the second-place finisher.

Trinidad and Tobago took second place in the overall rankings, finishing with a total of 35 medals: nine gold, 11 silver, and 15 bronze. The Bahamas followed closely behind in third with 30 total medals, comprising eight gold, 12 silver, and 10 bronze. Host nations and smaller Caribbean territories rounded out the top five: Barbados landed in fourth with 17 medals (six gold, three silver, eight bronze), while Guyana claimed fifth place with a six-medal haul that included four gold, one silver, and one bronze.

The final day of competition delivered several standout moments for the Jamaican squad, particularly in the closing 4x400m relay events. Jamaica claimed victory in three of the four scheduled relay races: the girls’ Under-17, girls’ Under-20, and boys’ Under-17 divisions. The only relay title that eluded the Jamaican team was the boys’ Under-20 race, where the squad finished second to a record-breaking Barbados team that delivered a stunning performance to take gold.

In individual event action, Jamaican athlete Michael-Andre Edwards rebounded from an earlier disappointment to claim top honors in the boys’ Under-20 triple jump. Edwards, who had previously lost his long jump title earlier in the championships, soared 15.84m with a -0.9m/s headwind to take gold. His win marked a one-two finish for Jamaica, as compatriot Rekelme Hunter took silver with a jump of 15.28m against a -0.1m/s wind.

Adding another medal to the nation’s final-day haul, Xavier Tracey secured a bronze finish in the boys’ Under-17 discus throw with a best throw of 51.30m, rounding out a dominant overall performance for the Jamaican delegation that extended their decades-long unbroken run atop the Carifta Games medals standings.

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.

ST GEORGE’S, GRENADA — The 53rd edition of the Carifta Games, hosted at Grenada’s Kirani James Athletic Stadium, saw Jamaica solidify its dominant position in the tournament on Monday, adding three more medals — two gold and one silver — to its growing tally during the penultimate competition session of the event.

For the second consecutive day, wet weather forced delays to the competition schedule, but poor conditions did not slow Jamaica’s top young athletes. Two standout performances delivered gold for the delegation: Zavien Bernard claimed top honors in the girls’ Under-20 high jump, and Shamanda Wilmot secured first place in the girls’ Under-17 javelin throw. Talshawn Edwards added a silver to the country’s day total with a strong performance in the boys’ Under-17 long jump.

With only one final competition session remaining, Jamaica is on track to secure another overall tournament victory, holding a substantial lead in the overall medal table. The Caribbean nation has already collected 47 total medals, split evenly between 17 gold and 17 silver, with an additional 13 bronze medals.

Trinidad and Tobago holds the second position in the overall rankings with 26 total medals: seven gold, nine silver, and 10 bronze. The Bahamas follows in third with 19 total medals, including six gold, eight silver, and five bronze. Guyana sits in fourth place, having earned five medals (three gold, one silver, one bronze), while Barbados rounds out the top five with nine total medals: two gold, two silver, and five bronze.

For Bernard, Monday’s gold medal marked a personal redemption after underwhelming results in the long jump and triple jump events earlier in the competition. The young athlete, who won the Under-17 high jump gold at the Carifta Games two years ago, matched her 2024 season best clearance of 1.78 meters to take the top spot on the podium. Jah’kyla Morton of the British Virgin Islands took home silver, breaking her country’s national record with a 1.76-meter clearance, while Alexandria Komolafe of Curaçao claimed bronze with a 1.70-meter jump.

Wilmot’s gold medal win was one of the most dramatic moments of the day. Trailing defending champion Zonique Charles of Antigua and Barbuda heading into the final round of the competition, Wilmot threw a new personal best of 46.39 meters, surpassing Charles’ previous leading throw of 46.27 meters to claim first place. Niaviv Matrona earned Curaçao its second bronze medal of the session with a throw of 41.52 meters.

Edwards continued his strong run of individual results at the tournament, adding a silver in the long jump to the silver he earned in the triple jump on Sunday. The Jamaican athlete posted a best jump of 6.71 meters, finishing second behind leader Michal Paul of Trinidad and Tobago, who secured gold with a 6.93-meter jump in the opening round. Randal Monroe of St Lucia took bronze with a 6.60-meter jump.

Beyond the medal events completed on Monday morning, Jamaica also advanced two athletes to the final of each of the three sprint hurdles preliminary competitions held during the session. Macaela Gordon (13.45 seconds) and Tashana Godfrey (13.51 seconds) led qualifying for the girls’ Under-17 sprint hurdles. In the girls’ Under-20 100m hurdles, Tiana Marshall (13.40 seconds) and Akeelah Bell (13.62 seconds) posted the fastest qualifying times to advance. For the boys’ Under-20 110m hurdles, Romario Jibbison (13.76 seconds) and Robert Miller (13.70 seconds) both earned spots in the afternoon final.