For the 37^th year in a row, Jamaica have topped the medal table at the CARIFTA Track & Field Championships.

The unofficial medal tally saw Jamaica finish the 50^th edition of the Games, which were held from April 8-10 at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium in Nassau, The Bahamas, with 78 medals, 32 more than the hosts in second and 47 more than Trinidad & Tobago in third. 

The top five was rounded out by St. Kitts & Nevis with 11 and Barbados with 10.

Of those 78 medals, Jamaica took home 40 gold, 22 silver and 17 bronze medals.

Furthermore, 36 of those medals came on the Boys side while 42 came on the Girls side.

Hosts, The Bahamas, also had an excellent showing at home with 46 medals including 10 gold, 13 silver and 23 bronze while Trinidad and Tobago ended with nine gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze.

In front of a vociferous home crowd, Jamiah Nabbie completed the U17 sprint double on Monday’s final day of the 2023 Carifta Games in The Bahamas on Sunday.

Nabbie, who emerged victorious in a keen 100m battle with St Lucia’s Naomi London on Saturday, found herself in another stern test against London in the 200m. The two were even going into the final 50m of the race before Nabbie dug deep to find that little bit more to win in 23.67, while holding off London (23.72) who won her second silver medal of the games.

Jamaica’s Natrece East ran a brave race to claim the bronze in 23.85.

Nabbie’s compatriot Cayden Smith ran 21.70 to win the U17 Boys 200m ahead of Grenada, who clocked 21.96 for the silver medal. Andrew Brown won Bahamas’ second medal in the race, taking bronze in 22.02.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Sanaa Frederick stormed to victory in the U20 Girls 200m clocking 23.60. Kenyatta Grate of the British Virgin Islands won the silver in 24.11 while finishing just ahead of Amari Pratt of the Bahamas (24.17).

The U20 Boys 200m saw a Jamaican 1-2 as Malique Smith-Band benefitted from his 400m strength to surge past the field and win in 20.67. Javourne Dunkley took the silver in 20.88 with Adam Musgrove of the Bahamas taking bronze in 20.96.

The impressive Michelle Smith of the Virgin Islands and Nathan Cumberbatch of Trinidad and Tobago pulled off impressive victories in the U20 800m races on Monday’s final session of the 2023 Carifta Games in Nassau, Bahamas.

Jamaica picked up another gold medal in the U17 Girls event while Guyana secured their gold medal in the U17 Boys race.

Smith, who won the U17 800m in Jamaica in 2022, took the lead after 400m and never looked back. She widened her lead over the last 100m to win her second gold medal of the Games in 2:09.71. The battle for the other two medals was intense as Jamaica’s Kishay Rowe, Haiti’s Victoria Guerrier and Barbados’ Layla Haynes fought tooth and nail for a spot on the podium.

In the end, Haynes managed to grab silver in 2:11.91, just ahead of Guerrier who clocked 2:11.99 for take the bronze. Rowe was credited with the same time but was awarded fourth place.

Cumberbatch led from the front from start to finish and never looked threatened winning in 1:51.34. Favian Gollop of Barbados stormed home from fourth place with just over 100m to go to win the silver medal in 1:52.33. Stefan Camejo won Trinidad and Tobago’s second medal in the race, taking bronze in 1:52.92.

Alikay Reynolds of Jamaica timed her run perfectly in the final 80 metres to take gold in 2:14.67. Ashlyn Simmons of Barbados relinquished her lead late and was forced to settle for the silver medal with a time of 2:16.28 while her teammate Chamecia Bryan took the bronze in 2:16.81.

Guyana’s Javon Roberts won the U17 Boys two-lap race in 1:56.64 with a late surge to get by Delano Todd of Jamaica (1:57.44) and Trinidad and Tobago’s Brandon Leacock, who stopped the clock at 1:58.17.

Jamaica continued their march towards another Carifta title winning two of three finals contested on Monday’s final day of competition.

Also, new has emerged that Jamaica will not contest the re-run of the Boys U20 4x100m final that they won on Saturday night at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. Jamaica won the relay in 39.68 with the Bahamas finishing second in 39.78.

Trinidad and Tobago finished third in 40.82.

On Monday, The Bahamas took gold and silver in the Girls U17 javelin as Kamera Strachan set a new championship record of 46.07m to win gold. Last year’s winner Dior-Rae Scott, who was the previous record holder, struggled to throw beyond 40m in her first two attempts, but was finally able to establish a mark of 45.13m to secure the silver medal.

It was her only throw beyond 40m.

St Lucia’s Naya Jules threw 42.92m to win the bronze medal in what was her only effort beyond the 40-metre mark.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Torian Cavien cleared 1.81m to win the U20 Girls high jump over teammate Deijanae Bruce, who cleared 1.78m. Keneisha Melbourne of Trinidad and Tobago won the bronze having sailed over the bar at 1.75m.

It was 1-3 for Jamaica in the U20 Girls Jade-Ann Dawkins who produced a season-best 6.14m on her fourth jump to take the crown.

Gannes Janae De of Trinidad and Tobago took the silver medal with her leap of 5.93m while Bruce followed up her silver in the high jump with bronze in the horizontal jump where she produced a leap of 5.78m.

Regarding to the relays, the judges in The Bahamas decided on a re-run of the relay after Barbados filed a protest claiming their lead-off runner was left at a disadvantage after the race was recalled when the Bahamian athlete claimed he did not hear the gun.

By then the lead off runners had sprinted about 50 metres.

However, reports said Jamaica’s head coach David Riley said Jamaica would not participate in the re-run because the officials had not declared the race null and void. Unconfirmed reports claimed that other countries who had teams in the final were planning to follow suit.

At the 49^th staging of the Carifta Games at the National Stadium in Jamaica in April 2022, Jamaica won all four sprint relays in impressive fashion. Things were a little different at the 50^th staging at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas on Sunday.

The day concluded with Brenden Vanderpool of the Bahamas successfully defending his pole vault title in a new Carifta record of 5.06m while holding off the challenge of Tedre O'Neil (4.60m) of St Vincent and the Grenadines, who claimed the silver medal. Tyler Cash of the Bahamas won the bronze medal with his clearance of 4.45m.

Heading into Monday's final day, Jamaica leads the medal standings with 42 medals - 23 gold, 13 silver and six bronze medals. The hosts, Bahamas, have 26 medals - five gold, eight silver and 13 bronze medals. The number exceeds the 17 medals they won in Kingston in 2022. Third is Trinidad and Tobago with 12 medals - two gold, four silver and six bronze medals while Guyana have seven medals - two gold, two silver and three bronze medals. Barbados rounds out the top five with four medals - two gold and two silver.

Earlier,  Jamaica won three of the four 4x100m relays and should have won all four had it not been a poor second exchange on the Boys U17 4x100m that opened the door for the Bahamas, who obliged by winning in 41.46 ahead of the Jamaicans, who clocked 41.63.

Grenada finished third in 41.95.

Prior to that race, Jamaica’s U17 Girls comfortably ran away with the gold medal in 45.36s, finishing ahead of the team from Trinidad and Tobago that clocked 46.18 for the silver medal. Bahamas, the home team, picked up the bronze when they finished in 46.43.

Jamaica’s U20 girls got things back on track with a dominating performance to win in 44.01 more than a second clear of Trinidad and Tobago, who took silver in 45.35 while the Bahamas ran 45.55 for the bronze medal.

The Bahamas team that featured the silver and bronze medallists in the 100m dash on Saturday were serious contenders to dethrone the Jamaicans and everything seemed to be going according to form for the home team until the final exchange.

Bahamian anchorman Carlos Brown got the baton with a three-metre lead on Jamaica’s anchor Deandre Daley, who driven by his disqualification in the semi-finals of the 100m and the injury to teammate Bouwahgjie Nkrumie, unleashed his blistering speed down the home stretch to catch and storm by Brown to the finish line.

Jamaica’s winning time was 39.68. The Bahamas took silver in 39.78 while Trinidad and Tobago finished third in 40.83.

They might have dominated proceedings in the sprint relays but Jamaica didn’t have things their own way in the 400m hurdles.

Jamaica’s Jody-Ann Daley won the Girls U17 event in 1:01.05 ahead of Darvinique Dean of the Bahamas who ran 1:02.50 for the silver medal. Daley’s compatriot was third in 1:02.61 to claim the bronze medal. It was a different story in the U20 event that saw a dominating performance from Michelle Smith from the Virgin Islands.

Smith, who won the U17 event in Jamaica in 2022, ran strong race from start to finishing, winning in 57.69 well clear of the Jamaican pair of Tonyan Beckford and Alliah Baker who ran 58.94 and 59.55 for second and third, respectively.

St Kitts and Nevis’ Akanye Samuel Francis upset the Jamaican pair of Deandre Gayle and Demario Bennett to win gold in the U17 Boys 400m hurdles in 54.14. Gayle ran 55.10 for the silver medal with Bennett clocking 55.27 for the bronze medal.

Jamaica got back to winning ways in the Boys U20 in the form of Roshawn Clarke who produced a dominant performance to win in 49.92 ahead of teammate Antonio Forbes, who clocked 51.72. Shimar Bain of the Bahamas ran 52.48 for the bronze medal.

Bahamas comprehensively won the inaugural staging of the mixed 4x400m relay, running away from the field to clock 3:24.92. In their wake was Grenada 3:27.22 and Jamaica 3:29.35.

Kaydean Johnson took gold in the 3000m steeplechase in commanding fashion powering away from the field in the final 200m to win in 10:41.11 leaving silver medalist Attoya Harvey of Guyana (10:45.74) in her wake.

Akaya Lightbourne of the Bahamas won the bronze medal with her time of 10:47.01.

Demetrie Meyer of Belize, who won gold in the 1500m on Saturday, added the 3000m gold to his collection on Sunday with a winning time of 9:08.56. Ejay George of Grenada won the silver medal in 9:36.82 with Love Joseph of the Turks and Caicos Islands winning bronze in a time of 9:37.46.

Ronaldo Anderson won another gold medal for Jamaica in the U17 Boys Shot Put. He set a mark of 15.52m to just get the better of Denzel Phillips of St Lucia who threw 15.17m Rueben Bain of the Bahamas threw 13.78m to claim the bronze medal.

Jamaica also won the Boys U17 triple jump as Euan Young soared out to 14.32m to claim the gold medal. Aaron Massiah of Barbados won the silver with a 13.93m effort while Ezekiel Saul of Guyana claimed the bronze with his jump of 13.53m.

Gerilin Barnes won gold for Antigua in the U17 Girls long jump. She soared out to a mark of 5.60m, a mere three centimetres clear of Jamaica's Sashana Johnson's 5.57m. The bronze medal was won by Hilaire Oceane Saint of Guadeloupe (5.54m).

Dominica’s Addison Alickson James threw 60.16m to win gold in the U17 Boys javelin. Antigua’s Maliek Francis hurled the implement 50.45m for the silver medal with Guadeloupe’s Tristan Carias winning bronze with his throw of 49.48m.

Guyana’s Anisha Gibbon, Jamaica’s Britannia Johnson and Cayman's Andrew Stone each won gold medals on Sunday’s morning session on day two of the 50^th Carifta Games being held in Nassau, Bahamas.

Nineteen-year-old Gibbons, the defending champion, threw 47.96m on her very first attempt to win the Women’s U20 javelin. Korann Corlet, 19, of French Guiana won the silver with her best throw of 45.32 while 18-year-old Vanessa Sawyer of the Bahamas took home the bronze medal with a throw of 43.37m.

It was a 1-2 finish for the defending champions Jamaica in the Women U20 shot put as 19-year-old Johnson established a winning mark of 14.54m. Her compatriot Britannie Johnson, also 19, won the silver medal with a throw of 13.74m.

The bronze medal went to St Lucia’s Joy Edward, 19, who put 13.53m to secure the final spot on the podium.

Meanwhile, Andrew Stone of the Cayman Islands produced a mark of 7.54m to win the U20 long jump. The 17-year-old Stone was 10cm better than Jamaica's Demario Prince who took the silver with his best jump of 7.44m, the same as Mateo Smith of the Bahamas, who was third as the Jamaica had a better series. Prince's second-best jump was 7.43m while Smith's was 7.33m. Prince's third-best effort was 7.37m to Smith's 7.33m.

Two of the marquee athletes at the 2023 CARIFTA Games, Jamaica’s Bouwahjgie Nkrumie and BVI’s Adaejah Hodge, both suffered injury setbacks on day one of the 50^th edition of the games at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium in the Bahamas on Saturday

Nkrumie, who ran a National Junior Record 9.99 to win the Class 1 Boys 100m title at the ISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships in Kingston last week, was comfortably leading his heat in the Boys Under-20 100m before pulling up injured and falling to the track with about 30m to go.

Hodge, the Austin Sealy Award winner from last year’s CARIFTA Games in Kingston, was scheduled to go in the first heat of the Under-20 Girls 100m but was pulled from the race as a precaution after feeling some discomfort while warming up.

The 100m semi-finals and finals are scheduled for later on Saturday.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo will not be defending her 400m title at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest in August. She will also not be running the 200m because she is going to be a mommy!

It is no secret that Jamaica’s women put on an impressive show at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon in July.

The World Athletics Championships will return to the Bahamas for the fourth time in six years after successfully winning the rights.

The next edition of the championships is due to be in 2024, and once again the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium has been earmarked as the venue for the team championship.

The Bahamas hosted the first three editions of the tournament, which took place between 2014-2017.  The event them moved to Yokohoma, Japan in 2019 and then Chorzow, Poland last year.

With the team’s track record of successfully hosting previous events, President of the International Association of Athletics Federations Sebastian Coe is confident the country will be able to deliver another exciting event.

“We have had three wonderful editions of the World Athletics Relays in Nassau, which established this event on the global calendar, so we know we are in safe hands for what will be an important Olympic qualifier for all our relay events,” Coe said.

“We are confident that The Bahamas will offer the best conditions for the athletes and a brilliant atmosphere for both athletes and fans as we mark a key milestone on the road to the Paris Olympic Games.”

The 2024 World Athletics Relays will serve as the main qualifier for teams participating in the men’s and women’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 and mixed 4 x 400m metre relays for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.

Distance runner Adelle Tracey was delighted to celebrate her first medal for Jamaica, a bronze, in the women’s 800m, at the 2022 NACAC Championships in the Bahamas on Saturday.

The athlete, who switched allegiance from Great Britain to Jamaica in June, made her debut at the IAAF World Championships but was unable to take part in the Commonwealth Games earlier this month due to protocols surrounding the international transfer.

The athlete was, however, able to return to the track for the NACAC Games where she finished third in the women’s 800m behind the US pair of Ajee and Allie Wilson.  Ajee finished just ahead of her compatriot Allie in a  photo finish 1:58.47 to 1:58.48.

The Jamaican finished third in 1:59.54 only her second time under 2 minutes, behind her personal best, which came at the IAAF World Championship in Eugene, Oregon in July.  Tracey was delighted with the result and performance.

“Ajee set a really tough pace from the get-go, that was great for me because I actually ran my second fastest time.  It was very hot today, it’s super windy.  I just made it hard but there is a lot of travel in my legs,” Tracey said after the race.

  “I was kind of hoping it would have been a bit more tactical but that was a really honest race and there are some really fast girls in there so I’m really happy with it,” she added.

The distance runner was also delighted to have made the trip.

"It feels like a really special place and this is my first medal as a Jamaican athlete as well, so, I really love the Bahamas.”

The Jamaicans also picked up other medals on the night when Olympic bronze medalist Megan Tapper claimed silver in the women’s 100m hurdles and another bronze for Orlando Bennett in the men’s 110m hurdles.

Bahamas' Shaunae Miller-Uibo put on a show for her hometown fans with a dominant display to win the women’s 400m on day 2 of the NACAC Athletics Championships, in Grand Bahama, on Saturday.

The Olympic and World Champion left very little to doubt as she left the blocks and quickly covered the field by the top of the straight.

World championship bronze medalist Sada Williams of Barbados looked to battle back against Miller-Uibo down the stretch but the Bahamian had enough to pull a few metres clear by the finish line.

Miller-Uibo, who has lost just once in 8 races over the distance this season, stopped the clock in 49.40, her fourth fastest time of the season.  Williams finished second in 49.86, while Jamaica’s Stephenie-Ann Mcpherson was third in 50.36.

In the men’s equivalent, Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor recorded his fastest time over the distance this season after outbattling his opponents down the stretch to stop the clock at 44.63, only his second time below 45 seconds this season.  Another Jamaican Nathon Allen was second in 45.04 with the United States’ Bryce Deadmon third in 45.06.

Bahamian 400m world champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo is looking forward to the challenge of competing regularly in the 200m after officially hanging up her spikes for the 400m event.

Having added the World Championship title to two Olympic gold medals, at the Oregon World Champions last week, the 28-year-old sprinter has expressed a desire to break new ground.  As such, Miller-Uibo has targeted trying her luck full-time over half the distance.

These days, however, the half-lap event is not for the faint of heart.  Three of the fastest times in the event’s history have been recorded in the last year.  Two Jamaicans, Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, and world champion Shericka Jackson have the world record in their sights. It's a competitive field.

Despite the fierce competition, however, the Bahamian is confident about making her mark.

 “The plans for me are the 200 which has always been my first love and get back into that,” Miller-Uibo said.

“I have run 21.7 without proper training. Once we go at it, I think we can do better,” she added. 

“They’re setting the stage pretty high.  I’m so proud of the girls and I think that they’re really showing out right now and showing the world exactly what we can do. I can’t wait.”

The athlete will have her first test next Saturday when she faces Jackson in Poland.

Bahamian quarter-mile star Shaunae Miller-Uibo added the 400m world title to her impressive collection after dominating the event at the IAAF World Championships on Friday.

The reigning Olympic champion had failed to capture the world title on two prior occasions, at the 2015 and 2019 editions, where she was made to settle for silver. In Eugene, Oregon, the athlete, who claimed she would retire from the event after this season, seized the moment.

Miller-Uibo took charge of the race early on, before pulling well clear of the field down the stretch to stop the clock at a world-leading 49.11.  The event ended with a Caribbean sweep of the medal places as the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino ran 49.60 for second and Barbados’ Sada Williams took a surprise third place in a new national record of 49.75.  Jamaicans Stephenie-Ann McPherson and Candice Mcleod missed out on the podium spots after finishing 5^th and 7^th.       

In the men’s equivalent, Grenadian Kirani James was forced to settle for second spot behind American Michael Norman who took the event in 44.29.  James was second in 44.48 with Matthew Hudson-Smith third in 44.66.

Two other Caribbean athletes in the event Christopher Taylor of Jamaica and Barbados’ Jonathan Jones were 7^th and 8^th respectively.

Jamaica’s Stephenie-Ann McPherson led the cadre of Caribbean women advancing to the semi-finals of the Women’s 400m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.