CARIFTA Games belong to Jamaica
(CNS Local Life): After three days of intense competition, the CARIFTA Games ended with athletes from around the Caribbean dancing on the track at Truman Bodden Sports Complex Monday night (22 April), soaking up the party atmosphere. While Cayman came up just short of earning another bronze medal, once again Jamaica dominated, with a total medal haul of 85, including 36 gold.
Star sprinter Brianna Williams of Jamaica added gold in the 4x100m relay to her double wins in the 100m and 200m, earning her a second consecutive Austin Sealy award for most outstanding athlete at the games.
Cayman’s Rasheem Brown finished only two-hundredths of a second off the bronze-medal-winning pace in the men’s 110m hurdles, leaving Cayman’s medal tally at two bronze, one by Rachell Pascal in the U17 javelin and an unofficial third place for Aijah Lewis in the U20 high jump, as there were only three competitors for that event.
The home country athletes came close in other events over the three days of competition, with opening day U20 high jumper Louis Gordon just missing a spot on the podium as he came within .03m of a medal, good for fourth place.
On Monday evening, Cayman’s U20 men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams finished fifth and sixth, respectively, with the same results in the U17 4x100m. In the men’s U17 3000m, Levi Superville (9:41.29) came in fifth, and Ava Hider placed sixth in the women’s open 3000m.
The men finished sixth in the U17 4x400m relay, and fourth in the U20 4x400m in a shortened field of four teams.
But the games belonged to Jamaica, whose medals haul was more than three times the next two countries, with Bahamas taking 26 (nine gold) and Trinidad 24 (four gold).
Next year the CARIFTA Games moves to Bermuda, with the competition set for 10-13 April 2020.
Category: Sports, Track & Field
