CARIFTA Games

The CARIFTA Games is an annual junior athletics competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). The games was first held in 1972 and consists of track and field events including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track events, jumping and throwing events, and relays. The Games has two age categories: under-17 and under-20. Only countries associated with CARIFTA may compete in the multi-sport event.

History

In 1972, Austin Sealy 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 championship meet.

Only countries associated with CARIFTA may compete in the multi-sport event.

The meet, which normally runs over three days during the Easter period, includes over 150 separate events comprising sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track events, jumping and throwing events, and relays. 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 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, Darrel Brown, World and Olympic Champions such as 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 Athletics Association and political leaders like Lenard Montoute, St Lucia’s Minister of Youth & Sports.

That countries like St Kitts-Nevis and St Lucia are hosting CARIFTA is in itself remarkable. 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. Now, St Lucia has joined Grenada, St Kitts-Nevis and Turks & Caicos, all of whom have built brand new stadia in the past decade for the CARIFTA Games.

The CARIFTA Games are sponsored by regional companies including the National Gas Company of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd and Guardian Holdings. They are hosted directly under the auspices of the North and Central American and Caribbean Confederation of the IAAF, more commonly known as NACAC.

Each country may entry 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.

The XXVIII CARIFTA Games was held in Bird Rock Athletic Stadium, Basseterre, St. Kitts. As of 2008, the 100 and 200 metres World and Olympic record holder Usain Bolt holds the 200m metres record in the under 20 category and the 400m in the under 17 category. He previously had both under 17 records but lost his 200m record in 2007 to the 2008 100 m World Junior champion Dexter Lee ans he lost the 400m under 20 record to world youth and junior silver medalist Kirani James

The CARIFTA Aquatics Championships is also held annually since 1985. The CARIFTA Championships had their 23rd Championships in 2008 in Aruba. It was at CARIFTA aquatics that Sean Paul represented Jamaica in 1989 and 1991 in water polo. Both meets are held under the auspices of [CANOC], the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees.

Venues 1972-2008

The CARIFTA Games began in Barbados in Easter 1972, but until the past few years the venue allocation has been fairly predictable. In the first 11 years, the Games were shared between Barbados (which has hosted CARIFTA on a record seven occasions), Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and Bahamas (six each), and Bermuda (3). In 1983 the Games went to the French Caribbean for the first time, Martinique playing host for the first time, though the French overseas department has since caught up with Bermuda, its sister territory of Guadeloupe having been host twice.

Since the turn of the century, though, four new venues have been christened, and yet another will play host in 2009. In 2000, Grenada had the Games at what was then the Caribbean's newest stadium. The Spice Isle was set to host again in 2005, before the September 2004 passage of Hurricane Ivan destroyed that country's stadium and forced a switch to Trinidad & Tobago. In fact, that year (for the first time) the Games went to the smaller of the "twin" islands, as new field events installations were put in place at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago within a matter of a few months.

After a return to Guadeloupe in 2006, the Games were awarded to the northern Caribbean territory of Turks & Caicos, at their new stadium on the island of Providenciales. Meanwhile, yet another new stadium was being built in Basseterre, St Kitts-Nevis, as the Bird Rock Stadium became the venue for CARIFTA Games XXXVII. Now, in 2009, the Games will go to their 11th different host territory, St Lucia laying host to the region's finest junior athletes for the first time at the National Stadium, located in St Urbain, two minutes from the Hewanorra International Airport in the southern town of Vieux Fort.

In 2009, the Games are set for yet another new venue, the British Virgin Islands building a new stadium for that purpose.

CARIFTA Venues 1972-2008:

1972 Bridgetown (BAR)
1973 Port of Spain (TRI)
1974 Kingston (JAM)
1975 Hamilton (BER)
1976 Nassau (BAH)
1977 Bridgetown (BAR)
1978 Nassau (BAH)
1979 Kingston (JAM)
1980 Hamilton (BER)
1981 Nassau (BAH)
1982 Kingston (JAM)
1983 Fort-de-France (MRT)
1984 Nassau (BAH)
1985 Bridgetown (BAR)
1986 Les Abymes (GUD)
1987 Port of Spain (TRI)
1988 Kingston (JAM)
1989 Bridgetown (BAR)
1990 Kingston (JAM)
1991 Port of Spain (TRI)
1992 Nassau (BAH)
1993 Fort-de-France (MRT)
1994 Bridgetown (BAR)
1995 Georgetown (CAY)
1996 Kingston (JAM)
1997 Bridgetown (BAR)
1998 Port of Spain (TRI)
1999 Fort-de-France (MRT)
2000 St. George's (GRN)
2001 Bridgetown (BAR)
2002 Nassau (BAH)
2003 Port of Spain (TRI)
2004 Hamilton (BER)
2005 Bacolet (TRI)
2006 Les Abymes (GUD)
2007 Providenciales (TKS)
2008 Basseterre (SKN)
2009 Vieux Fort (LCA)

2008 Medal Table

CARIFTA Games 2008 Final Medal Count

Team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Jamaica	29	25	15	69
Trinidad & Tobago	10	10	10	30
Barbados	7	10	9	26
Bahamas	8	3	12	23
Martinique	5	3	6	14
Grenada	3	2	3	8
Guadeloupe	0	4	3	7
St Kitts-Nevis	0	4	1	5
Commonwealth of Dominica	1	1	1	3
Guyana	0	1	1	2
US Virgin Islands	1	1	0	2
Turks & Caicos Islands	1	1	0	2
Netherlands Antilles	0	1	1	2
Antigua-Barbuda	1	0	0	1
Cayman Islands	0	0	1	1
Anguilla	0	0	1	1
Bermuda	0	0	1	1

See also

• Caribbean Community

External links

• Results of all CARIFTA Games in all events: Under 20 Men, Under 20 Women, Under 17 Boys, Under 17 Girls