Stirred by their gold medal winning display at last year’s CARIFTA Games in The Bahamas, organisers have invited promising Barbadian athletes Mario Burke and Rivaldo Leacock for a return visit to compete at today’s Star Performance Track Club’s Meet in Nassau.
The two, along with Under-20 sprinter Levi Cadogan, who has seized the chance to get in some early overseas competition, and athletics administrator Michael Jules, left the island yesterday for The Bahamas.
Apart from the three Bajans, the annual one-day meet, which is now in its 11th year, has attracted close to 1 000 athletes from around The Bahamas, Jamaica, the United States and Canada.
With the new Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium under renovation for the IAAF World Relays, this meet would be held at the old stadium, which Bahamian athletes have been using for years.
Burke, who won gold in the Under-17 Boys’ 100 metres with a time of 10.61 seconds last year, will renew battle with Bahamian bronze medallist in that event, Keanu Pennerma.
Just last week at the Joseph Payne Classic, Burke clocked 10.51 seconds, losing a close 100 metres to Shekeim Greaves, who had a similar time but turned the tables in the 200 metres, winning in 21.06 seconds.
Leacock, 15, a runaway CARIFTA winner of the Under-17 Boys’ 400-metre hurdles in 53.11 seconds, will once again have a showdown with Bahamian Mihkail Beckles, who won the bronze medal.
Great performances are expected particularly from Bahamian athletes Demetri Charlton and Mikhail Bethel.
“We are really happy about the expected participation by the Under-17 Boys hurdler [Leacock] and the Under-17 Boys 100-metre runner [Burke] who both hail from Barbados. Fans would be happy to witness these young men compete against our Bahamian men,” meet coordinator Dave Charlton said.
On the women’s side, Bahamians Devynne Charlton and Carmiesha Cox, who swept the gold and silver medals in a 1-2 finish at CARIFTA last year, are also expected to compete.