BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PREMIER of Nevis, the Hon. Mark Brantley was high in praise of the Federation’s athletes’ performance, especially the quartet that won a Bronze Medal, at the recently held CARIFTA Games in the Cayman Islands.
Asked by WINN FM’s Clive Bacchus for a comment on the Federation’s CARIFTA Team, notably the three athletes from Nevis in the Federation’s 4X100 Male Relay Team that copped Bronze, Brantley said they need to be commended.
“I think they did a wonderful job on the regional and international stage, for CARIFTA is one of the big stages for athletics. I am very, very impressed with them and what they have been able to do in terms of being able to go there and win Bronze.
“Some people look at it and say only a Bronze Medal? But I think that is the wrong way of looking at it. These youngsters, for most of them, it was a first-time exposure, and to win Bronze at a meet of that level speaks volumes to the capacity of these youngsters.”
The Premier also believes that it speaks volumes to the type of future the young athletes are likely to have. “So, I commend them wholeheartedly. I think it is a very good day for St. Kitts and Nevis, most specifically from our little island of Nevis. To see these youngsters shine on that stage for Nevis was phenomenal and I think that their families and their coaches should rightly be proud.”
He continued: “We, of course, did very well at the Special Olympics and here we are now at CARIFTA to come away with that Bronze Medal; and I believe there is another Bronze Medal as well from what I am advised.”
Premier Brantley reiterated that all the athletes should be commended, adding, “I would like to see this grow from strength to strength. It is my hope that we would have more of that happening in the future and that more athletes would be given an opportunity for that exposure.
“I know the standards here in St. Kitts and Nevis are particularly high in terms of the bar that they have to meet; in fact, much higher than some other countries in the region.”
Brantley noted that the Federation’s Amateur Athletics Association has done an excellent job over the years, and he hopes it would “continue to look at this and to see how much exposure they can give to athletes on the bigger stages for athletics in the Caribbean”.
The four Bronze Medalists are Nevisians Que’Leel Roberts, Kamarley Newton-Roberts, and Akadianto Willet, and Kittitian K’Athony Benjamin, who clocked 3.25.84.
Also noted for their performances were Tijuanique Morton, who ran her personal best time of 24.42 seconds in the U-17 200M Final, placing fifth and Sharim Hamilton, who placed fourth in the U-20 Male 400M with a time of 53.65 seconds.
This was the 49th meet in the history of the CARIFTA Games, which was held over a three-day period (April 20-22, 2019) in the Cayman Islands.
The meet was won by Jamaica with Bahamas in the First Runner-up position and Trinidad and Tobago occupying the Second Runner-up spot.
The CARIFTA Games is an annual athletics competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA).
The Games was first held in 1972 and only countries associated with CARIFTA could have competed in the competition.
In 1972, Austin Sealy, then President of the Amateur Athletic Association of Barbados, inaugurated the CARIFTA Games to mark the transition from the Caribbean Free Trade Association 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 by including the French and Dutch Antilles in the annual junior track and field championship meet.
The meet normally runs over three days during the Easter period and includes over 150 separate events. It 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.
