Bronze and two silver for Barbados on opening day of CARIFTA 2025

Barbados ended the first day of the 2025 CARIFTA Games with three medals—one bronze and two silver —thanks to standout performances in the high jump and 400m events at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago.

The country’s first medal came in the morning session from Shania Mottley in the Under-17 Girls high jump. The St Michael School student cleared 1.71m on her third attempt to secure the silver medal.

Starting at a height of 1.50m, Mottley made getting over the bar look effortless and showed great determination to clear 1.71m on her third attempt. Jamaica’s Sakoya Palmer won the event, also clearing 1.71m but on her second try. Both athletes attempted to surpass the bar at 1.74m but knocked it down on all three attempts.

“That was a personal best for me, and this is my first CARIFTA Games, so I think I did very well,” Mottley said afterward. “I honestly did not have a strategy. It was just me and the bar, not me and the competition.”

Mottley was thankful to her coach, Desiree Gamble: “I want to dedicate this medal to everyone who has helped me along the way, especially Mrs Gamble, who has been training me for the past year.”

Also competing in the event for Barbados was Kiami-Rae Orford, who finished sixth with a personal best of 1.65m. In the Under-17 Girls shot put, Chloe Blackman of Alleyne School placed fifth with a throw of 12.08m.

Kiami-Rae Orford placed sixth in the Under-17 Girls high jump final. (Nathan Goddard-McCarthy)

Aidan Moore clocked 49.83 seconds in heat four of the Under-17 Boys 400m semifinals, and his Harrison College schoolmate Zachary Wall advanced to the finals of the Under-17 Boys 400m with a time of 49.21 seconds in heat three, placing second.

Former Alexandra School athlete and Spire Academy’s Kadia Rock was in total command of her Under-20 Girls 400m semifinal heat. She easily won heat one in a personal best of 53.45 seconds and moved into the finals with the second-fastest time.

Kadia Rock secured second place in the Under-20 Girls 400m finals. (Nathan Goddard-McCarthy)

Kelia Bentham placed sixth in heat three with a time of 57.74 seconds. In the Under-20 Boys 400m semifinal heat one, St George Secondary’s Tarell Johnson-Rouse was the lone competitor for Barbados and ran positively with a strong finish on his debut for the country, advancing to the finals with a personal best time of 47.45 seconds.

Debutant and Combermere School’s Dahrion Belgrave clocked 11.02 seconds and placed third in heat two of the Under-17 Boys 100m semifinal. This effort placed him 10th overall, and he barely missed out on a final spot. Belgrave’s sprint mate Jahkye Brewster, a Lodge School student, was agonizingly close to making the final, finishing third (10.98) in heat four and ninth overall. Alleyne School’s Aniya Nurse, a first year competitor in the Under-20 Girls division, got a strong start in the final heat but placed third (11.77) after Trinidad and Tobago’s Sanaa Frederick (11.70) passed her close to the finish line. Nurse finished 10th overall.

In the afternoon session, Barbados’ medal tally increased to three. Zachary Wall executed his final kick to perfection in the Under-17 Boys 400m final. Trailing in last place for most of the race, the Harrison College athlete surged in the final 150 metres to clock 48.63 seconds and secure third place behind Jamaica’s Diwayne Sharpe (48.27) and the Bahamas’ Eagan Neely (47.80).

“I feel amazing. The race didn’t go as planned—I was falling behind but made a last-ditch effort,” said Wall, who dedicated his medal to his family, coach and friends.

Zachary Wall placed third in the Under-17 Boys 400m finals. (Nathan Goddard-McCarthy).

Barbados’ third medal came in the Under-20 Girls 400m, where former Alexandra School athlete Kadia Rock ran a gutsy race to claim silver – her first CARIFTA individual medal. Rock got off to a great start and was in the lead after the first 200m. She held her form and finished strong to take home the silver medal in 53.52 seconds.

“It means a lot to get a medal, make my country proud and run a personal best,” Rock told the media, dedicating the medal to her late mother, Karen Small, who passed away in 2023.

Guyana’s Tianna Springer was victorious in 53.07 seconds.

In the Under-20 Boys 400m, St George Secondary’s Tarell Johnson-Rouse ran a personal best of 47.45 seconds in the semifinal to reach the final on his CARIFTA debut. He later placed fourth in the final with a time of 47.58 seconds, narrowly missing the podium. The top three spots went to the Bahamas’ Zion Miller (46.51), Guyana’s Dwayne Malachi Austin (46.54), and Trinidad and Tobago’s Da Shaun Lezama (47.43).

Alexandra School’s Ashlyn Simmons placed seventh in the Under-20 Girls 1 500m final in a time of 4:53.83.

The curtain closed on day one with Barbados fielding its first-ever mixed 4x400m relay team at CARIFTA. The quartet of Kei’ron Haynes, Ariel Archer, Shamari Greenidge-Lewis and Danya Skeete placed fourth in a time of 3:28.54.

Barbados’ first open 4x400m mixed relay quartet of Danya Skeete, Shamari Greenidge-Lewis, Kei’ron Haynes and Ariel Archer placed fourth.

(NGM)