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The 49th edition of the region’s premier athletics competition was held at the National Stadium in Kingstown, Jamaica, after a 2 year absence, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The Easter weekend staple saw SVG finishing 14th on the medal table, with 5 medals; 2 silvers and 3 bronze.
Amal Glasgow started the collection on Saturday, when he finished 3rd in the U20 Boys 400m, in a new national record of 47.06. He was outdone by the Jamaican duo of Delano Kennedy and Shemar Palmer.
Soon after the 400’s, Keo Davis followed suit, and took the bronze medal in the U17 Boys 100m. He crossed the line in 10.77, behind Gary Card of Jamaica, and surprise winner Dwayne Flemming, of Antigua & Barbuda.
Also on Saturday, U20 High Jump record holder, Verrol Sam, fished the event with a clearance of 2.00m, which secured the 3rd position.
Following this, Uroy Ryan upped the ante, and jumped to silver medal spot with a 7.52m leap. The 2021 PAN AM U20 champion had the tables turned on him from that competition, when Jamaica’s Jayden Hibbert took Carifta gold with a distance of 7.62m.
Once again, Keo Davis followed the example set before him by Ryan, as he sprinted to a close 2nd place in the U17 200m. His time of 22.19 was only 0.6 seconds behind eventual winner, Rickoy Hunter of Jamaica.
Other notable performances came from Grenisha Thomas, who was 4th in the U20 Girls 400m Hurdles in 1:03.12s and Uroy Ryan, who also finished in 4th place, in the U20 Boys High Jump. In her maiden outing at the Carifta Games, newcomer to the Heptathlon, Gail-Ann John, finished 6th in the Multi disciplne event, and broke her own recently established national record of 3,213 points, with new mark of 3,361 points. Middle distance runner Nellie Ambriton, finished 7th and 5th and the 800m and 1500m respectively, and Kodi Grant finished the U17 Boys Long Jump in 8th place.
Two other national records were established at this year’s games. The quartet of Devonric Mac, Amal Glasgow, Kyle Lawrence and Nellie Ambriton set a new U20 4x400m relay record of 3:16.14s when they finished 5th, and Verrol Sam eclipsed SVG’s oldest national record of 3.50m in the Pole Vault, set by Dan Winsboro in 1965. He vaulted a height of 3.60m to finish in 5th place.