CARIFTA team lauded after impressive showing in Grenada

Head coach Desiree Gamble is extremely pleased with the performance of the Barbados team at the just concluded CARIFTA Athletic Championships in Grenada.

For the first time in over ten years, the team secured six gold medals, while winning 17 in total, to improve on its showing at last year’s games in Trinidad where they claimed 17 medals. 

Barbados finished fourth in the standings behind runaway winners Jamaica, who won 71 medals, Trinidad and Tobago (35 medals) and The Bahamas (30 medals).

Gamble’s comments came as the first batch of competitors arrived on the island on Tuesday to much fanfare at the Grantley Adams International Airport.

The first-year head coach said the record breaking effort by the Open boys’ 4x400m relay team to bring the games to a close was a source of immense pride for the entire contingent.

“When we left here the goal was to surpass last year’s medal tally of 14 medals, and we were able to gain 17 medals. The big thing about that is also the quality of those medals, where we gained six gold medals, and that hasn’t been done in probably over 10 years. 

“Also how we ended CARIFTA; we closed the curtain on CARIFTA with a superb performance by that Open boys’ 4x400m relay team. The team was full of jubilation, they were so pleased and running around and jumping.They were extremely happy,” Gamble said.

Hours before that historic performance, Barbados set the tone for a strong evening session when Ashlyn Simmons and Danya Skeete won gold and silver respectively, in the Under-20 girls’ 800m.

“So from the time we saw all these performances coming, well, you can hear my voice now, I was screaming the whole time. We had an awesome CARIFTA this year,” Gamble added.

She has already set her sights on a better performance in the 2027 edition, which is set to be hosted by either St Kitts or Trinidad and Tobago.

“Of course, we can only get better from here, and that’s our goal,” Gamble said.

She, however, gave much of the credit for the team’s performance to the Athletic Association of Barbados’ (AAB) youth development programme.

“That development programme has been very, very important in terms of recovery, and the fact that whenever the athletes were injured they had access to that physiotherapy and also they were able to be exposed to the event-specific coaches.

“But I would really love to thank all the personal coaches who you’re not seeing here in the limelight, but they have supported this management team. Also the AAB, the AAB board and all of the parents, we’re extremely grateful for all of the support,” Gamble said.

Prior to the team’s departure from Barbados, a heavy focus was put on the relays with Barbados fielding teams in all nine events. With six medals won and a new record also being established, those performances were a source of immense pride for assistant coach with responsibility for relays, Alwyn Babb.

“I think that the athletes gave a commendable performance and I want to say that the president [of the AAB] had taken the position that we’re going to be represented in all relay teams and that seems to be working. 

“I think it’s a motivator for the young people to get out there because we have to take at least six persons to be part of any relay squad. So even if you don’t make the team, you can get into the relay pool and be part of the experience,” Babb said.

“And we want to single out those first year Under-17 boys and then we have some Under-15s and first year Under 17s waiting in the wings. I’m saying that once we continue to go down this road, we’re going to see performances that will pay off in another two or three years and then we hope to get in the region of 30-plus medals.”

Babb, however, maintained that there was still room for improvement.

“We need to maintain the areas where we are doing well in, but we have to improve in the high jumps and we have to regain our hurdle prominence. 

If you look at it across the board, there’s still too many holes that we are losing medals to and giving up medals to other countries,” he pointed out.