(CNS Local Life): Aijah Lewis gave the Cayman Islands, which is hosting the 48th annual CARIFTA Games, its first medal at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex, taking bronze in the women’s U20 high jump on the opening day of the three-day event on Saturday, 19 April. Later in the day, high jumper Louis Gordon just missed a spot on the podium in the men’s U20 event, as he came within .03m of a medal, good for fourth place, and only .05m off the gold medal jump by Shaun Miller of the Bahamas.
Athletes representing 28 Caribbean countries are competing at CARIFTA, with Cayman playing host for the third time.
While no other Cayman athlete came close to a medal on the first day, there were some respectable finishes. Levi Superville took sixth place in the men’s U17 1500m in a time of 4:13.03, just 1.56 seconds away from a bronze medal, and two spots ahead of compatriot Juan Pablo Valerio.
Jaden Francis also came in sixth in her event, the U17 400m in 56.86, as did Victor Magalhaes in the men’s U20 1500m, with Cayman’s Wyatt Bodden coming in eighth.
As expected, the athletes from Jamaica dominated the track events, with Bahamas and Trinidad also putting in strong showings.
Jamaican Brianna Williams, the world’s fastest junior female, easily took gold in the U20 100m in 11.25, ahead of Akila Lewis of Trinidad (11.62) and Jemba Nelson of Jamaica (11.68). In the men’s U20 100m, Jamaica again took two of the three medals, with Oblique Seville coming in first (10.24) and Ryiem Robertson second (10.37) and Adrian Curry Jr of Bahamas earning bronze (10.42).
In the U17 100m, Anthaya Charlton of Bahamas came first in the women’s event, clocking 11.51, and Devine Augustine of Trinidad took gold in the men’s race in a time of 10.62.
The Games continue today, with events including the 200m and 800m, the 400m hurdles and triple jump. The meet ends tomorrow.
Our official Tally is 1 bronze. Bermuda with the same population has won multiple medals including a gold and silver, possibly more, but our Cayman official website has failed to post any results or the medal table list despite having links for this.Not only our athletes have disappointed but the local organizing committee as well.
I agree, we need a new Head Coach with a lot more energy and motivational abilities. Two bronze medals one of which was actually last place is not good enough for the home team after 2 of 3 days competition. Compare this to the Carifta swimmers, 3 golds and 11 medals after one day.
The Cayman Islands team need proper coaching as we are and will not get any better without proper direction. Has anyone contacted Kareem Streete-Thompson who has been coaching for many years?
True, we really aren’t looking very good.