EACH?TIME the members of the 2013 Barbados CARIFTA Games team got a chance to compete on a synthetic surface, the performances improved.
It showed at the Trinidad and Tobago CARIFTA Trials, the Falcon Games and finally at the CARIFTA Games in The Bahamas themselves by winning 20 medals – four gold, 14 silver and two bronze. Michael Nicholls also won a bronze medal in the Under-17 boys’ 110m hurdles, but with only our competitors from two countries, those medals did not go towards the overall count.
It was an improvement over the 17 (2-2-13) won in Bermuda last year, not only in terms of number, but the quality of medals.
Fourteen silver medals suggest Barbadian athletes more than held their own and with a bit more competition prior to the games, they might have been gold. Not having a track is no excuse for non-performance. Hundreds of athletes across the region train exclusively on grass. Guyana, for instance, won six medals, two of them gold.
Several athletes of course stood out, but none shone brighter than Mario Burke and Akela Jones, who both won one gold and three silver medals.
Burke became the first Under-17 boy since Obadele Thompson to win a medal in the 100 metres. They have forged a relationship via the Internet and Burke said Thompson’s advice was helpful.
He was unfortunate not to have done the double in the 200, losing form over the last five metres and was just nipped on the line. But it was his anchor leg in the 4×400 metres that spectators will be talking about for a long time.
Burke overturned more than 30 metres and with a few more steps might have won gold.
Jones, as she has done in the past few years, delivered Barbados’ first gold medal in the Under-20 girls’ long jump. She competed in the sprint hurdles for the first time since she was disqualified at the 2010 Games in Cayman Islands, to get another second place.
Then there was Rivaldo Leacock. With a jaw-dropping performance in the Under-17 boys’ 400m hurdles, the stadium was left absolutely stunned, marvelling at how he ran without slowing down and finished with his back dead straight. College coaches are already asking questions about him.
Jalisa Burrowes also came into her own with a personal best 5.77 metres in the Under-17 long jump after ironing out some technical flaws to get the final gold medal. She led the event from the beginning and kept improving.
Hayley Matthews is continuing in the tradition of cricketers who seem to have a natural affinity for the javelin. Her performance was quite impressive because she has little or no technical skill in the event, but with every throw improved her best from 32 to 33 to 35 to 38 and finally 40.30 metres to take silver.
In his final appearance, Charles Greaves won a silver medal in a personal best 15.26 metres in the triple jump, and had a monster leap in the long jump which was just marginally fouled or would have won gold there.
Janeill Craigg, rebounding from injury, also said farewell with a silver medal while Tristan Whitehall was unlucky not to get at least a bronze in the discus, but he set a new junior national record of 17.02 metres in the shot put.
Then there was Ariel Jackson. She came away with two silver medals in the relays, but her most impressive performances came in the individual events where she finished fourth on both occasions.
Jackson posted a new personal best of 23.68 in the 200 metres and 54.65 in the 400. She tore up the track on the third leg of the 4×100 to put the team in silver medal contention before coming back the following day with another great run in the 4x400m.
Akeem Marshall and Sonia Gaskin (with a personal best 2:06.84), also impressed in the 800 metres as did Kion Joseph, who overcame a groin injury in the 400m hurdles, to win silver medals.
Naturally, there were some disappointments. Levi Cadogan should have won a medal if not the gold in the Under-20 boys’ 100m after leading for more than half the way, but seemed to panic near the end and Jerrad Mason made a tactical error in setting the pace in his 800m.
Tristan Evelyn did not put together good races in the hurdles, but those are rhythm events. The time Shakera Hall ran last year was good enough for bronze, but she never got close to it this season, (it would have been another silver) and was clearly short of races that would have made her peak at the Games.
Barbados continues to lose ground in the throws and this year, the sprint hurdles were also a disappointment. The quarter-mile needs to be addressed as do the longer events like the 1 500 and 5 000 metres.
And while spectators might have totally enjoyed the competition, The Bahamas received a failing grade for the organization of these games.
They got an A+ for security, but there were complaints about accommodation with one president moving his team because their hotel had roaches. Transportation was problematic and in the midst of competition, athletes were being fed hotdogs and hamburgers.
They also made little or no provision for the media and with the inaugural World Relays set for the same venue next year, one can only hope they have learnt a few lessons going forward.
• The NATION’s senior reporter Sherrylyn A. Toppin was on the spot in The Bahamas covering the annual CARIFTA Games.
