Jamaica dominated the 51st Carifta Games, which ended at the Kirani James Stadium in St George’s, Grenada on Monday night, topping the medal table with 84 medals including 45 gold, 23 silver and 16 bronze.
The 84 medals bettered last year’s 78-medal haul as Jamaica secured their 38th consecutive title at this regional meet and 46 times since its inception. Their last defeat dates back to 1984 when the Bahamas emerged victorious at home.
The Bahamas finished second with 35 medals – 9 gold, 13 silver, and 13 bronze, followed by Trinidad and Tobago with 27 medals – 4 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze. Guyana, with 8 medals (4 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze), and Guadeloupe, with 5 medals (2 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze), complete the top five.
The Jamaicans were unstoppable on the final day, sweeping the sprint hurdles and 4x400m relays.
Leading the way in the sprint hurdles were Habiba Harris and Shaquane Gordon who surpassed the Games Records in their respective sections. However, their times were not considered legal due to the wind speed in each race being just above the allowable limit of 2.0 metres per second.
Harris sped to a wind-aided 12.93 (2.4m/s) in the Girls’ Under-20 100m hurdles. The 19-year-old led a 1-2 finish for Jamaica, with her teammate Briana Campbell taking second place in 13.11. Third place went to Sofia Swindell of the Virgin Islands, posting a time of 13.95.
The Boys’ 110m hurdles also produced a 1-2 finish for Jamaica, with Gordon powering home in an impressive wind-aided 13.15 (2.1m/s), just ahead of Daniel Beckford with a time of 13.25. Lizheng Zhuang of Curacao finished third with a time of 13.94.
Malayia Duncan claimed the Girls’ Under-17 100m hurdles title in 13.63, while Michael Dwyer took the Boys’ Under-17 110m hurdles in 13.81.
Jamaica secured commanding victories in all four 4x400m relay finals, but the Boys’ Under-20 race ended in controversial fashion when the first-leg runners of Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Bahamas stopped shortly after the race began. Jamaica went on to secure a comfortable victory in 3:10.58, well ahead of Guyana (3:14.05) and Grenada (3:14.24).
Following the race, a protest was immediately lodged by the three teams who had stopped. The athletes claimed they heard a second shot from the starter’s gun. Consequently, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Bahamas were allowed to run for times in a separate race about 45 minutes later. Trinidad and Tobago won that section with a time of 3:11.10, securing second place overall. The Bahamas initially finished second in 3:11.18 for third place overall but was later disqualified. Guyana were consequently moved up to third place overall with a time of 3:14.05.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Javontae Smith sealed a sensational gold medal double on the day by launching a throw of 52.71m in the third round to win the Boys’ Under-17 discus. That success came a day after the 16-year-old won the shot put with a throw of 18.80m to surpass his personal best and shattered the Games record of 17.42m.
It was a one-two finish for Jamaica in the discus as Kamari Kennedy, who finished fourth in the shot put, secured the silver medal with a throw of 50.84m. The bronze went to Mathéo Gaspard-Belia of Guadeloupe with 43.54m.
