The 52nd Carifta Games roared into golden gear on Saturday evening as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Grenada each struck gold in the 1500m finals, giving fans at the Hasely Crawford Stadium plenty to cheer about on Day One of the region’s premier junior track and field meet.

Host nation Trinidad and Tobago enjoyed a dream start in the Under-17 1500m as Ohea’ Cummings and Christopher Sammy delivered back-to-back victories in contrasting styles that sent the home crowd into celebration mode.

Cummings, calm and calculated, shadowed early leader Aisha Wajid of Haiti for the majority of the race before unleashing a well-timed finishing kick down the home straight. Her winning time of 4:44.62 was enough to hold off Wajid (4:45.20), with Jamaica’s Denique Palmer (4:47.50) rounding out the podium.

Moments later, Sammy rode the emotional wave of the crowd, taking control of the boys’ Under-17 final and never letting go. With smooth strides and unwavering confidence, he powered to gold in 4:09.65, well ahead of Bermuda’s Cameron Adkins (4:12.86) and Jamaica’s Luke Plummer (4:13.54).

The golden glow soon stretched to Jamaica, who secured their first title of the meet in the girls’ Under-20 1500m in dominant fashion. Cindy Rose led from the front, never looking troubled as she crossed the line in 4:37.95, ahead of teammate Sushana Johnson (4:40.83). Attoya Harvey of Guyana claimed bronze in 4:41.61.

But it was Grenada’s D’Angelo Brown who perhaps delivered the most commanding performance of the evening in the boys’ Under-20 1500m. With long, decisive strides and unmatched composure, Brown outclassed the field, stopping the clock at 3:58.96, ahead of Aruba’s Asher Patel (3:59.61) and Jamaica’s Joel Morgan (4:01.43).