The CARIFTA Games is an annual
athletics competition founded by the
Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). The games were first held in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
and consist of
track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
events including
sprint races,
hurdles,
middle distance track events, jumping and throwing events, and
relays. The Games has two age categories: under-17 (under-18 until 2017) and under-20. Only countries associated with CARIFTA may compete in the competition.
History
In
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
, Austin Sealy, the president of the
Amateur Athletic Association of Barbados, inaugurated the CARIFTA Games to mark the transition from the
Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). CARIFTA was meant to enhance relations between the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean after the dissolution of the West Indies Federation, but the CARIFTA Games took that idea a step further, including the French and Dutch Antilles in an annual junior
track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
championship meet.
The meet normally runs over three days during the
Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
period and includes over 150 separate events. The Games has two age categories for boys and girls: under-17 and under-20, the latter in line with the
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) guidelines for junior athletes. The meet is run entirely under IAAF rules.
According to IAAF President,
Lamine Diack, CARIFTA is "on par with the World Championships." The meet is considered one of the best development meets in world athletics. Having started out on grass tracks, with athletes staying in schools or other similar temporary shelter, the CARIFTA Games have come a long way. College and university coaches and scouts from the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
make their way to the Games each year, in a bid to identify up-and-coming athletes.
The Games have produced world record holders
Usain Bolt
Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...
,
Darrel Brown, World and Olympic champions such as
Veronica Campbell Brown of Jamaica,
Kim Collins of St Kitts-Nevis and
Pauline Davis-Thompson of the Bahamas,
Alleyne Francique of Grenada and
Obadele Thompson of Barbados. CARIFTA has spawned administrators like
Dean Greenaway, President of the
British Virgin Islands
The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...
Athletics Association.
In the early years, a handful of territories (Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Bermuda) had facilities appropriate for hosting what really is a world-class meet. Since 2000, though, Grenada, St Kitts-Nevis and St Lucia have built brand new stadia and hosted the CARIFTA Games. The Games have also been held on Tobago and in Montego Bay, Jamaica, which became the 14th different venue in 2011.
The CARIFTA Games are normally sponsored by regional companies including the National Gas Company of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd and Guardian Holdings. In 2009, telecommunications company
LIME Caribbeansigned on as a presenting sponsor, providing finance to the local organising committee, direct assistance to national teams and live coverage of the Games on TV across the Caribbean, as well as via Internet streaming.
The Games are hosted directly under the auspices of the
North and Central American and Caribbean Confederation of
World Athletics, more commonly known as NACAC. Each country may enter two athletes per event and up to six athletes may be entered for relay events (with two acting as substitutes) and three athletes in the combined events such as
pentathlon or
heptathlon
A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...
.
Games
File:HCStadium2013.jpg,
File:Independence Park.jpg,
File:Tommy Robinson National Stadium.jpg,
Medal Totals Since 1990
As of 2024
CARIFTA Games Records
Jamaica has dominated the medals table at CARIFTA over the years. So too the record books. They hold records in 10 of the 21 Under-20 men's events contested all-time at CARIFTA, and hold or share 11 of the 17 Under-20 women's records. At the junior level, Jamaican boys own nine of the 17 records, whilst their girls possess a remarkable 10 of 16 marks in the Under-17 division. The oldest CARIFTA record in the books, though (at least for events still being contested in the modern Games), belongs to a Bermudian, Sonya Smith, whose Under-20 Javelin Throw performance of 53.98m has been on the books since 1979. The oldest boys' record is 15.03 m, the winning distance for Lyndon Sands of the Bahamas in the 1980 Under-17 Triple Jump.
Kareem Streete-Thompson went on to become one of the world's leading horizontal jumpers, but his CARIFTA performances have earned legendary status. In 1989, he set an Under-17 Long Jump record with a leap of 7.83 m, and a year later his 7.94 m was an Under-20 record, in his first year competing at that level for Cayman Islands. Both marks remain untouched. The women's horizontal jump records are almost as long-lived, Jackie Edwards' 1987 mark of 6.14 m was the Under-17 winning distance that year, and Daphne Saunders' leap of 6.93 m won her the 1989 title. Both ladies are from the Bahamas.
Men Under 20
Women Under 20
Mixed U-20
Boys Under 18
Girls Under 18
Boys Under 17
Girls Under 17
Austin Sealy Award Winners
Starting in 1977,
[
] the Austin Sealy Award is presented to the athlete adjudged the most outstanding, either in terms of record accomplishment, or quality of performance as compared to other top medallists. The Carifta Games Magazine issued for the 40th edition of the Carifta Games contains the article: "Most Outstanding Athletes over the years: Winners of the Austin Sealy Trophy", by David Miller, published on page 19 in part 2 and on page 24 in part 3. It displays a complete list of award winners. However, there are a couple of inconsistencies: in 2008 Barbados' hurdles sprinter
Kierre Beckles won the trophy rather than Trinidadian hurdles sprinter
Jehue Gordon, who on the other hand gained the trophy in 2010 rather than Grenadian sprinter
Kirani James, the winner of 2009.
In 2002 Jamaican U17 sprinter
Anneisha McLaughlin won the award
[
] rather
Usain Bolt
Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...
, who was awarded the trophy in 2003 and 2004.
Bahamian thrower
Laverne Eve is reported to be the award winner in Kingston in 1982 and Martinique in 1983,
[ rather than in 1981. In the year 1981, U17 sprinter Candy Ford from Bermuda, who then won three gold medals (100 m, 200 m, and 400 m), was awarded the so-called "Oscar Steele Challenge Trophy" for being the most outstanding athlete of the games.][
]
* = Under-17 (before 2014) / Under-18 (after 2013)
† = Oscar Steele Challenge Trophy
See also
*Caribbean Community
The Caribbean Community (abbreviated as CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organisation that is a Political association, political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) and five associated members thro ...
References
External links
CARIFTA Games Records
*Results of all CARIFTA Games in all events (last standing 2006)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carifta Games
Athletics competitions in the Caribbean
Recurring sporting events established in 1972
Athletics (track and field) competitions in North America
Politics and sports
Annual sporting events
CARIFTA
Under-18 athletics competitions
International sports competitions in the Caribbean