The track at the National Stadium is being retired in style, as some of the region’s top athletes gather here this weekend for the 2011 National Track and Field Championships.
Barbados’ 110m hurdles World champion Ryan Brathwaite will be joined by Grenada’s top quarter-milers Rondell Bartholomew and Kirani James as the final local meet will be staged from 6 p.m. tomorrow, and continue on Saturday and Sunday from 4 p.m.
Brathwaite has not been in the best form this season as he prepares to defend his title at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, later this year, and this meet will be the perfect opportunity for him to show some improvement.
“We revisited some of the old drills that promote rhythm in the hurdles and we have been working on hurdle efficiency, trying to eliminate some of the faults and concerns that he has identified in terms of finishing and starting,” coach Alwyn Babb told NATIONSPORT.
“His best time for the year is 13.54 (seconds) and we want to use these Nationals to run a season’s best.”
Babb described the 23-year-old as bulky when he returned from the United States, but said the weight was reducing as a result of a change in diet.
“Once he continues on this path, he should be ready to defend his title.”
In contrast, Grenadians Bartholomew and James have made everyone sit up and take notice of their performances.
Bartholomew, 21, tops the IAAF’s lists of times in the men’s 400 metres with 44.65 seconds. If he runs close to that, or his other time of 45.17, both the National Championships and all-comers’ records will fall.
James, like Bartholomew and Brathwaite, came through the CARIFTA ranks. Although he has a season’s best time of 44.86 seconds which puts him third on the IAAF Top List, James will be running the 4×400 metres relay only.
Esther Maynard, president of the Amateur Athletic Association, was pleased with the response from the other Caribbean nations and said everything was on stream.
James and Bartholomew are part of the larger Grenadian contingent, but those numbers are yet to be confirmed.
Dominica has a team of nine athletes, St Vincent and the Grenadines eight, including quarter-miler Kineke Alexander; St Lucia five and Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago two each.
Barbadian athletes overseas have also confirmed their participation, including Kierre Beckles who recently set a new national record in the women’s 100m hurdles; sprinters Ramon Gittens, Andrew Hinds and Fabian Moore; Latoya Griffith (400mh); Sade Sealy and Mara Weekes (400m) and Shane Brathwaite (110mh).
Among locally-based athletes down to compete are national 100m record-holder Shakera Reece; 200m record-holder Jade Bailey; and former CARIFTA champions Shekeim Greaves and Dario Alleyne.The National Stadium will be closed on August 1 so a new track can be laid.