HIGH EXPECTATIONS

One of Barbados’ largest contingents in recent years will be hoping for big results when the CARIFTA Games gets underway in the Spice Isle on Sunday.

The majority of the 31-member team left the island on Tuesday for Grenada, while the remaining athletes departed today for the 51st edition of the regional meet which will run from March 31 to April 1 at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium.

Speaking to the media at the Grantley Adams International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, head coach Ramon Armstrong admitted that even though the athletes were disadvantaged by not having a synthetic track to train on, he expected the team to equal or surpass last year’s performances in the Bahamas where they collected 10 medals.

“All of the students and the management are very excited. This has been long in coming. The students worked hard this season having to run on grass, not having a proper surface to train on, so to be here is a big accomplishment and a big achievement for them, so they are excited and we are also excited for them.

“…Goals and expectations are like all the other teams. Everybody is looking to go and perform their best and either repeat what they would have done or better it…and to get as many medals as they can,” Armstrong said.

“This is a fresh year, no pressure to anyone, but as I said we’re looking to improve on our performances and hopefully once we focus on that and we produce well, then medals will come, but we’re not going to give a specific number.”

He said much was expected of athletes in the Under-20 boys’ and girls’ divisions.

“We might have been weakened this year, but interestingly enough, those Under-20s really stepped up to the plate and is one of the largest groups this year and most of them have another year or two in Under-20 so it speaks well for the future,” Armstrong said.

The head coach explained that with the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletic Championships (BSSAC) having only concluded last week, athletes had been resting the last few days.

However, he said they were travelling to Grenada earlier than usual to ramp up practice and get acclimatized to the conditions.

“Pretty much we’ve just been doing recovery [and] that’s why we’re leaving early. We have them together and we’ll go down and we’ll get to train on the track, on the surface that they’re going to compete on to make sure that they’re prepared for what is to come,” Armstrong said.

He said he was especially pleased to see how track and field had recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I think this is really our rebirth after Covid. You know Covid would have put a stop to a lot of training and we lost some athletes during that time, so we’re now on the rise again after Covid.

“We know it would have taken a while so we’re glad to see that the numbers are gradually increasing again,” Armstrong said.

randybennett@barbadostoday.bb