#BTEditorial – The silver lining of CARIFTA Games’ achievement around a dark cloud of inertia

The 50th edition of the CARIFTA track and field games, the premier track and field event for the Caribbean Community’s young athletes, was a jubilee of athletic prowess that surely must have made its creator Sir Austin Sealy beam with pride and gratitude.

His homeland’s contingent added lustre to the Easter weekend fiesta in Nassau with a commendable haul of 11 medals, including 2 gold, equalling the 2019 and 2022 haul. 

Since its inception in 1972, the games have fostered regional integration, friendship and excellence among the participating countries. Barbados, as the home of the Carifta Games’ brainchild and its inauguration, has a special place in the history and development of Caribbean sport. Many first glimpsed the likes of Obadele Thompson (1991), Ryan Brathwaite (2006), Shericka Jackson (2008), Kirani James (2010), and one Usain Bolt (2002) when they first struck CARIFTA gold.

But our athletes striving and achieving in spite of rather than because of a well-resourced track and field programme is the silver lining surrounding a dark cloud. Despite untold millions of dollars collected by a national lottery and doled out to four national sporting bodies, including the National Sports Council – to say nothing of the Government’s significant tax haul – we have to depend on Chinese largesse to rebuild a national stadium 53 years after it was opened by a young prince who would be king.

No pageant royale of athletics here nowadays, though. Barbados, home to the first CARIFTA Games in 1972,  has not hosted a single track and field edition of the games since the turn of the 21st century, despite its rich tradition and a talented pool of athletes. The last time Barbados staged the games was in 2001 when it celebrated its 30th anniversary of independence. Since then, other countries such as Jamaica, Bahamas, Bermuda, Grenada and the Cayman Islands have taken turns hosting the games on multiple occasions, showcasing their facilities and hospitality.

The 2024 edition is to be staged in Grenada and it is to be Trinidad and Tobago’s turn in 2025. Dare we hope that Barbados can have a stadium in three years to take the mantle of regional athletics leadership? 

We believe that it is high time for Barbados to reclaim its rightful role as a leader and a host of the CARIFTA Games. 

We look forward to such highlights under Bajan lights as the Under-17 girls’ 4×400-metre relay team, who ran their hearts out to secure a silver medal behind the dominant Jamaicans. The quartet of Kadia Rock, Ariel Archer, Chanecia Bryan and Aniya Nurse showed great teamwork, determination and speed to clock a time of 3:50.49 minutes, a remarkable achievement.

We need our national stadium back for the next Ashlyn Simmons, a successor to this gold medal-winning 1500-metre runner who added another medal with a silver in the 800-metre race. We want to see a repeat sight of more than one Bajan on the podium, just as Simmons was joined on the dais by bronze medallist Bryan.

There are several achievements we acknowledge that better facilities in the future can only multiply – like Favian Gollop and Layla Haynes with silver medals in the Under-20 800-metre races for boys and girls respectively. Gollop split the Trinidadian pair of Nathan Cumberbatch and Stefan Camejo, while Haynes finished second behind Michelle Smith of the British Virgin Islands.

Haynes had already evoked Bajan pride when she copped the gold medal in the Under-20 girls’ 1500 metre event.

We salute Nya Browne who capped off a splendid night for Barbados with a bronze medal in the Under-20 girls’ 100-meter hurdles event. Browne improved on her personal best time to clock 13.80 seconds, matching her bronze medal performance from last year’s games in Kingston, Jamaica.

And we are happy to note the efforts of Nikkolia Kennedy who was upgraded to a bronze medal in the Under-20 boys 110-meter hurdles event in 14.02 seconds after placing fourth initially. Jamaica’s Shaquane Gordon who crossed the line third and was disqualified by young Kennedy was no mere asterisk; his competence, consistency and dedication were more than medal-worthy.

We congratulate them on their outstanding performances and commend their coaches, managers and supporters for their guidance and encouragement. 

These thrilling medal-earning performances cannot fail to inspire more young Barbadians to pursue their dreams in athletics and other sports, save the necessary support and recognition from all sectors of society. We also look forward to seeing our athletes continue to excel at Pan American, World Junior Championships and the Olympics.

Hosting the CARIFTA Games is not merely about building a cadre of runners, jumpers, throwers and vaulters, and motivating and inspiring the next crop of athletes to excel and represent their nation with pride. It is about bringing significant social and economic benefits to Barbados. Is our much-vaunted tourism industry too good for these games coming as they do towards the end of the winter season? Can these games not create employment opportunities, generate revenue and enhance our image and reputation as a sporting destination?

The new national stadium – an Austin Sealy Sports Complex no less – should be the fruit of the joint labours of government, the private sector and the public. We have the potential and the people to invert the inertia. 

Barbados has a rich legacy of excellence in track and field, and we delight in our latest ranks of athletes who will carry on this tradition with pride and passion. They have made us proud as a nation, and we salute them for their Easter nights of silver lining.

The 50th edition of the CARIFTA track and field games, the premier track and field event for the Caribbean Community’s young athletes, was a jubilee of athletic prowess that surely must have made its creator Sir Austin Sealy beam with pride and gratitude.

His homeland’s contingent added lustre to the Easter weekend fiesta in Nassau with a commendable haul of 11 medals, including 2 gold, equalling the 2019 and 2022 haul. 

Since its inception in 1972, the games have fostered regional integration, friendship and excellence among the participating countries. Barbados, as the home of the Carifta Games’ brainchild and its inauguration, has a special place in the history and development of Caribbean sport. Many first glimpsed the likes of Obadele Thompson (1991), Ryan Brathwaite (2006), Shericka Jackson (2008), Kirani James (2010), and one Usain Bolt (2002) when they first struck CARIFTA gold.

But our athletes striving and achieving in spite of rather than because of a well-resourced track and field programme is the silver lining surrounding a dark cloud. Despite untold millions of dollars collected by a national lottery and doled out to four national sporting bodies, including the National Sports Council – to say nothing of the Government’s significant tax haul – we have to depend on Chinese largesse to rebuild a national stadium 53 years after it was opened by a young prince who would be king.

No pageant royale of athletics here nowadays, though. Barbados, home to the first CARIFTA Games in 1972,  has not hosted a single track and field edition of the games since the turn of the 21st century, despite its rich tradition and a talented pool of athletes. The last time Barbados staged the games was in 2001 when it celebrated its 30th anniversary of independence. Since then, other countries such as Jamaica, Bahamas, Bermuda, Grenada and the Cayman Islands have taken turns hosting the games on multiple occasions, showcasing their facilities and hospitality.

The 2024 edition is to be staged in Grenada and it is to be Trinidad and Tobago’s turn in 2025. Dare we hope that Barbados can have a stadium in three years to take the mantle of regional athletics leadership? 

We believe that it is high time for Barbados to reclaim its rightful role as a leader and a host of the CARIFTA Games. 

We look forward to such highlights under Bajan lights as the Under-17 girls’ 4×400-metre relay team, who ran their hearts out to secure a silver medal behind the dominant Jamaicans. The quartet of Kadia Rock, Ariel Archer, Chanecia Bryan and Aniya Nurse showed great teamwork, determination and speed to clock a time of 3:50.49 minutes, a remarkable achievement.

We need our national stadium back for the next Ashlyn Simmons, a successor to this gold medal-winning 1500-metre runner who added another medal with a silver in the 800-metre race. We want to see a repeat sight of more than one Bajan on the podium, just as Simmons was joined on the dais by bronze medallist Bryan.

There are several achievements we acknowledge that better facilities in the future can only multiply – like Favian Gollop and Layla Haynes with silver medals in the Under-20 800-metre races for boys and girls respectively. Gollop split the Trinidadian pair of Nathan Cumberbatch and Stefan Camejo, while Haynes finished second behind Michelle Smith of the British Virgin Islands.

Haynes had already evoked Bajan pride when she copped the gold medal in the Under-20 girls’ 1500 metre event.

We salute Nya Browne who capped off a splendid night for Barbados with a bronze medal in the Under-20 girls’ 100-meter hurdles event. Browne improved on her personal best time to clock 13.80 seconds, matching her bronze medal performance from last year’s games in Kingston, Jamaica.

And we are happy to note the efforts of Nikkolia Kennedy who was upgraded to a bronze medal in the Under-20 boys 110-meter hurdles event in 14.02 seconds after placing fourth initially. Jamaica’s Shaquane Gordon who crossed the line third and was disqualified by young Kennedy was no mere asterisk; his competence, consistency and dedication were more than medal-worthy.

We congratulate them on their outstanding performances and commend their coaches, managers and supporters for their guidance and encouragement. 

These thrilling medal-earning performances cannot fail to inspire more young Barbadians to pursue their dreams in athletics and other sports, save the necessary support and recognition from all sectors of society. We also look forward to seeing our athletes continue to excel at Pan American, World Junior Championships and the Olympics.

Hosting the CARIFTA Games is not merely about building a cadre of runners, jumpers, throwers and vaulters, and motivating and inspiring the next crop of athletes to excel and represent their nation with pride. It is about bringing significant social and economic benefits to Barbados. Is our much-vaunted tourism industry too good for these games coming as they do towards the end of the winter season? Can these games not create employment opportunities, generate revenue and enhance our image and reputation as a sporting destination?

The new national stadium – an Austin Sealy Sports Complex no less – should be the fruit of the joint labours of government, the private sector and the public. We have the potential and the people to invert the inertia. 

Barbados has a rich legacy of excellence in track and field, and we delight in our latest ranks of athletes who will carry on this tradition with pride and passion. They have made us proud as a nation, and we salute them for their Easter nights of silver lining.

The 50th edition of the CARIFTA track and field games, the premier track and field event for the Caribbean Community’s young athletes, was a jubilee of athletic prowess that surely must have made its creator Sir Austin Sealy beam with pride and gratitude.

His homeland’s contingent added lustre to the Easter weekend fiesta in Nassau with a commendable haul of 11 medals, including 2 gold, equalling the 2019 and 2022 haul. 

Since its inception in 1972, the games have fostered regional integration, friendship and excellence among the participating countries. Barbados, as the home of the Carifta Games’ brainchild and its inauguration, has a special place in the history and development of Caribbean sport. Many first glimpsed the likes of Obadele Thompson (1991), Ryan Brathwaite (2006), Shericka Jackson (2008), Kirani James (2010), and one Usain Bolt (2002) when they first struck CARIFTA gold.

But our athletes striving and achieving in spite of rather than because of a well-resourced track and field programme is the silver lining surrounding a dark cloud. Despite untold millions of dollars collected by a national lottery and doled out to four national sporting bodies, including the National Sports Council – to say nothing of the Government’s significant tax haul – we have to depend on Chinese largesse to rebuild a national stadium 53 years after it was opened by a young prince who would be king.

No pageant royale of athletics here nowadays, though. Barbados, home to the first CARIFTA Games in 1972,  has not hosted a single track and field edition of the games since the turn of the 21st century, despite its rich tradition and a talented pool of athletes. The last time Barbados staged the games was in 2001 when it celebrated its 30th anniversary of independence. Since then, other countries such as Jamaica, Bahamas, Bermuda, Grenada and the Cayman Islands have taken turns hosting the games on multiple occasions, showcasing their facilities and hospitality.

The 2024 edition is to be staged in Grenada and it is to be Trinidad and Tobago’s turn in 2025. Dare we hope that Barbados can have a stadium in three years to take the mantle of regional athletics leadership? 

We believe that it is high time for Barbados to reclaim its rightful role as a leader and a host of the CARIFTA Games. 

We look forward to such highlights under Bajan lights as the Under-17 girls’ 4×400-metre relay team, who ran their hearts out to secure a silver medal behind the dominant Jamaicans. The quartet of Kadia Rock, Ariel Archer, Chanecia Bryan and Aniya Nurse showed great teamwork, determination and speed to clock a time of 3:50.49 minutes, a remarkable achievement.

We need our national stadium back for the next Ashlyn Simmons, a successor to this gold medal-winning 1500-metre runner who added another medal with a silver in the 800-metre race. We want to see a repeat sight of more than one Bajan on the podium, just as Simmons was joined on the dais by bronze medallist Bryan.

There are several achievements we acknowledge that better facilities in the future can only multiply – like Favian Gollop and Layla Haynes with silver medals in the Under-20 800-metre races for boys and girls respectively. Gollop split the Trinidadian pair of Nathan Cumberbatch and Stefan Camejo, while Haynes finished second behind Michelle Smith of the British Virgin Islands.

Haynes had already evoked Bajan pride when she copped the gold medal in the Under-20 girls’ 1500 metre event.

We salute Nya Browne who capped off a splendid night for Barbados with a bronze medal in the Under-20 girls’ 100-meter hurdles event. Browne improved on her personal best time to clock 13.80 seconds, matching her bronze medal performance from last year’s games in Kingston, Jamaica.

And we are happy to note the efforts of Nikkolia Kennedy who was upgraded to a bronze medal in the Under-20 boys 110-meter hurdles event in 14.02 seconds after placing fourth initially. Jamaica’s Shaquane Gordon who crossed the line third and was disqualified by young Kennedy was no mere asterisk; his competence, consistency and dedication were more than medal-worthy.

We congratulate them on their outstanding performances and commend their coaches, managers and supporters for their guidance and encouragement. 

These thrilling medal-earning performances cannot fail to inspire more young Barbadians to pursue their dreams in athletics and other sports, save the necessary support and recognition from all sectors of society. We also look forward to seeing our athletes continue to excel at Pan American, World Junior Championships and the Olympics.

Hosting the CARIFTA Games is not merely about building a cadre of runners, jumpers, throwers and vaulters, and motivating and inspiring the next crop of athletes to excel and represent their nation with pride. It is about bringing significant social and economic benefits to Barbados. Is our much-vaunted tourism industry too good for these games coming as they do towards the end of the winter season? Can these games not create employment opportunities, generate revenue and enhance our image and reputation as a sporting destination?

The new national stadium – an Austin Sealy Sports Complex no less – should be the fruit of the joint labours of government, the private sector and the public. We have the potential and the people to invert the inertia. 

Barbados has a rich legacy of excellence in track and field, and we delight in our latest ranks of athletes who will carry on this tradition with pride and passion. They have made us proud as a nation, and we salute them for their Easter nights of silver lining.