Barbados should be proud of its success at the 2012 Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) Games.
Especially due to the fact that they have ended their 16-year drought.
Barbados returned with 17 gold, 17 silver and seven bronze medals for a total of 41 medals, to finish with a resounding 459.50 points.
To show their dominance, they also swept both the male and female divisions, accumulating 235 and 224.50 points respectively.
According to Team Manager, Vaman Harbin, it was “a very special performance for a special kind of track meet.”
He explained that because of the fact that the team is limited to just 40 athletes, with only one athlete allowed to take part in each event, team selection is extremely critical.
“Team selection definitely creates some challenges for selectors because well-rounded athletes are more suited for the CUT Games than specialized ones,” he told WEEKENDSPORT.
“Whereas in other competitions you would look for the best athlete in a respective field, at CUT we tend to choose athletes who are better at multiple events, rather than one who may be particularly good in just one event.”
One good example of this was Under-15 athlete, Rivaldo Leacock.
Leacock was selected to run the 1 200 metres based on his ability to run the 800. And he didn’t disappoint, setting a games record of 3:24.73 in his first ever time running the event.
Along with that victory, Leacock also won gold in the 800 metres in record time (2:03.11), copped silver in the 400, while being part of the victorious boys’ open sprint medley and 4×100 metres relay teams.
Harbin also pointed to Rosette Hoyte’s dominating display in the Under-13 Girls’ division as one of the highlights of the tour, where she won gold in a record time of 59.99 in the 400, along with winning the 200.
He revealed that because the CUT Games were held every two years, he would be using the Barbados Invitational to ensure that Under-15 athletes were exposed to a regional track meet every year.
Malachi Harris also broke the previous cricket ball throw record of a 44 metres among the Under-9 Boys with a new mark of 50.32 metres.
