Jamaica look set to continue their dominance of the Carifta Games as the 46th staging begins on Saturday in Willemstad, Curacao.
The games, begins at 9:00 am (8:00 am Jamaica time) on Saturday and wraps up with their closing ceremony at 7:15 pm (6:15 pm Jamaica time) on Easter Monday, April 17.
Twenty Six countries and territories in the region are expected to field more than 600 junior athletes at the multi-purpose Ergilio Hato Stadium in the capital city of the Dutch Island for the traditional Easter weekend championships – a meet considered the breeding ground for many world-class athletes from the region.
Jamaica have won the games for 32 straight year and 40 times of the games’ 45-year history.
The last Jamaica lost was in 1984 when The Bahamas won at home.
Last year, Jamaica won a record 86 medals comprising 43 gold, 28 silver and 15 bronze.
The Bahamas finished well behind in second place with 34 medals (6 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze), while Barbados occupied third place with 14 medals (6 gold, 6 silver and 2 bronze).
And with a high powered 84-member squad in Curacao, Jamaica could surpass last year’s record haul of 86 medals.
Sprinter Christopher Taylor of Calabar High and Junelle Bromfield of the University of Technology, have been named captains of the team.
The team will be without Kingston College (KC) star sprinter Jhevaughn Matherson, who pulled out as a result of the injury he suffered on March 31 during the semi-final of the Boys’ Class One 100 metres at the Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships. He won that race in 10.72 seconds.
Wayne Pinnock, also of KC, along with St. Jago’s, Keenan Lawrence and Abigail Brooks of Hydel High School were also pulled from the squad due to injuries.
Jevaughn Powell of Edwin Allen, Wolmer’s Boys’ Jeremie Farr and Ashanie Smith of St Catherine were late additions to the squad.
Edwin Allen’s heptathlon champion Peter-Gay McKenzie will be the first Jamaican to take the track. She competes in the 100-metre hurdles, the first event of the seven-event discipline, which is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am.
KC’s decathlon champion, Donovan Thames will also see early action on the opening day. Thames begins his hunt for the gold medal in the Octathlon at 9:10 am when he competes in the 100 metres, the first event of the eight-event discipline.
The opening day will be highlighted by the Boys and Girls’ 100- metre and 400-metre finals, in both the Under-18 and Under-20 categories.
The preliminaries of the 100 metres and the semi-finals of the 400 metres will take place in the morning session, which is scheduled to close at 11:00 am.
The evening session, which begins at 4:00 pm will feature the 100-metre semi-finals and finals along with the 400-metre and 1500-metre finals
