Team Barbados bags 14 CARIFTA medals

By Nathan Goddard-McCarthy

Barbados wrapped up a memorable performance at the 2025 CARIFTA Games in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday with a total of 14 medals — their best showing in nearly a decade. 

The medal haul, which included one gold, five silver, and eight bronze, marked their strongest campaign since the 2016 Games in Grenada, where the team collected 20 medals.

The nation’s golden moment came from Jayden Green, who blazed to victory in the Under-20 Boys’ 200m final in 20.93 seconds.

After the victory, he held up a sign, “Rest in peace, Aunty Shirley”, dedicating the victory to his aunt who passed away.

In the field, Eboni Brathwaite, who also represents Barbados in cricket, added to the medal count with a superb performance in the Under-17 Girls’ javelin throw.

She launched the javelin to a massive personal best of 39.16m — an improvement of nearly four metres — to secure a bronze medal.

In the Under-20 Girls’ high jump, Nailah Browne and Zakaiya Hunte represented Barbados with strong efforts. Browne narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth. She cleared 1.60m and 1.65m on her first attempts, then succeeded at 1.70m on her second. Her competition ended at 1.73m, where she was unsuccessful in three attempts. Finishing just ahead of her was the British Virgin Islands’ Jah Kyla Morton, who also failed at 1.73m but took bronze by clearing 1.70m on her first try.

Hunte finished fifth overall with a best clearance of 1.65m, having cleared both 1.60m and 1.65m on her first attempts before being unable to clear 1.70m.

In the open girls’ heptathlon, Nyema Taylor placed sixth in the long jump, the fifth event in the competition, with a best effort of 4.72m. Later in the evening, she continued her campaign with the javelin throw and the 800m dash.

Sprinter Maya Rollins advanced to the final of the Under-20 Girls’ 100m hurdles after placing second in her semifinal heat with a time of 13.87 seconds — a remarkable feat considering she had only arrived in Trinidad the night before. She eventually earned bronze despite clipping a hurdle early in the final.

Alika Harewood also progressed to the final, finishing fourth in her semifinal heat with a time of 14.29 seconds.

In the Under-17 Boys’ 200m final, Dahrion Belgrave delivered a bronze medal in his CARIFTA debut with a new personal best of 21.68 seconds. Aaron Morris produced a gritty performance in the Under-20 Boys’ 800m final, unleashing a powerful kick on the home stretch to capture bronze in 1:51.90.

Barbados added another medal in the Under-20 Boys’ 5 000m, where Luke McIntyre made a bold move on the final lap to break away from the pack and hold on for bronze in 16:06.00. Fynn Armstrong followed close behind in fourth, clocking 16:13.91 after running with the lead group for much of the race.

Relay performances helped round off the medal haul. The Under-17 Boys’ 4x400m team of Zachary Wall, Aidan Moore, Jakobi Browne-Smith, and Jahkye Brewster clocked 3:15.95 to win bronze, improving on their semifinal time. The Under-20 Girls’ 4x400m quartet of Ashlyn Simmons, Kadia Rock, Aniya Nurse, and Ariel Archer set a new national junior record with their bronze-winning time of 3:39.36.

In the Under-20 Girls’ 800m final, both Ashlyn Simmons and Danya Skeete recorded personal bests. Simmons finished fourth in 2:12.59, while Skeete placed sixth in 2:13.51, capping off a strong middle-distance showing. (NGM)