BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE 44th CARIFTA Games have opened in St. Kitts and Nevis in impressive fashion despite many challenges faced by the organisers in the lead up to the event.
Despite reports of poor accommodation, possible LIAT strike and media challenges, the Games got underway on its traditional Good Friday start date in front of a few thousand supporters that included a band from the Bahamas of about one dozen.
In a fanfare-filled opening ceremony, Minister of Sports the Hon. Shawn Richards in addressing the audience highlighted how the CARIFTA Games have developed into one of the most important meets on the athletic calendar, birthing superstars of the sport in Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt and Kim Collins.
He reminded that the Federation has been participating in the event since 1977 and had won 51 medals in that time span.
Richards also singled out Tiandra Ponteen as the Federation's most decorated CARIFTA athlete.
The evening also saw the 400m Semi-Finals which featured recent World Youth record holder Christopher Taylor from Jamaica, who won his Semi-Finals race comfortably in the U-18 Boys category.
For St. Kitts and Nevis, Warren Hazel progressed to the Finals after a third place finish in the U-20 Boys, while Reanda Richards also reached the Finals of the U-18 Girls category. Hannah Mills also participated in that event but failed to progress.
The first medal of the Games went to Devia Brown of Jamaica who threw a distance of 48.78m, while Akeem Kerr, also of Jamaica, was in a class of his own in the Open Pole Vault competition clearing a distance of 4.20 metres.
The Games are set to continue today (Apr. 4) with a morning session starting at 9:00 and an evening session at 4:00 p.m.
The CARIFTA Games is often seen as one of the largest junior track meets in the world.
