The best CARIFTA EVER!

The best CARIFTA EVER!

By: Staff Writer

April 11, 2023

The 50th CARIFTA Games were held in Nassau, the Bahamas during the Easter weekend with Jamaica coming out on top with The Bahamas placing second and Trinidad and Tobago placing third in the events.

Lord Sebastian Coe, President of the International Association of Athletics Federations, told Bahamian officials that this was the best CARIFTA Games he had ever attended and encouraged The Bahamas to continue on promoting Track & Field as such a high level.

Mario Bowleg, minister for sports and culture for the Bahamas, told reporters that he had spoken to Lord Coe and that is what he was told. Mr Bowleg was responding to online comments made by Jamaican nationals criticising the events this year as being lacklustre and disorganised.

Acknowledging that there were “challenges and hiccups” during this year’s games, Mr Bowleg said: “It wasn’t really a challenge, but some things happen beyond your control that the general public may not see that we were just behind the scenes trying to fix and get it right… In every event or with things, technical issues and things that come about are corrected as the event continues on. So that was no major issue, but then things happen.”

The action on the track and in the field was complemented with a lively cultural village and there was a grand opening ceremony, an upscale tea party for regional and global guests, and the ‘Let’s Move Bahamas’ CARIFTA Fun Run/Walk in which World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe served as the patron and also participated in the event.

The holiday weekend was capped off by fantastic performances on the track and in the field at the Thomas A. Robinson (TAR) National Stadium in Nassau, The Bahamas.

The TAR Stadium is one of the best in the region and has hosted world level competition in the past, hosting the world’s first ever “World Relays” in 2014 and the second and third in 2015 and 2017 respectively. The World Relays will also be hosted at the TAR again next year in April.

Mr Bowleg also said: “Even in the present state of our facility, it’s still one of the best in the Caribbean even comprised with Jamaica or any other and we will continue on improving our facilities.

“I think most of all of the Caribbean countries that attended along with the word athletics executives, NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association), executives, and the various ministers, ministers from the various Caribbean countries all felt that we did a great job. They enjoyed it and they felt that this event really was pulled off for the 50th Anniversary and the Bahamas did a great job representing the Caribbean by doing so.”

Final Standings

Men’s Medal Table Standings

Rank	Team	Code	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Jamaica	JAM	20	11	5	36
2	Bahamas	BAH	6	7	12	25
3	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	4	4	7	15
4	Saint Kitts and Nevis	SKN	4	1	2	7
5	Cayman Islands	CAY	2	0	1	3
6	Belize	BIZ	2	0	0	2
7	Grenada	GRN	1	3	4	8
8	Guyana	GUY	1	1	3	5
9	Dominica	DMA	1	0	0	1
10	US Virgin Islands	ISV	1	0	0	1
11	Bermuda	BER	0	4	2	6
12	Saint Lucia	LCA	0	3	0	3
13	Barbados	BAR	0	3	0	3
14	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	VIN	0	1	1	2
15	British Virgin Islands	IVB	0	1	0	1
16	Antigua and Barbuda	ANT	0	1	0	1
17	Turks and Caicos Islands	TKS	0	0	3	3
18	Guadeloupe	GLP	0	0	1	1

Women’s Medal Count Table

Rank	Team	Code	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Jamaica	JAM	20	11	11	42
2	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	5	6	5	16
3	Bahamas	BAH	4	6	11	21
4	Barbados	BAR	2	3	2	7
5	Guyana	GUY	2	1	0	3
6	US Virgin Islands	ISV	2	0	0	2
7	Guadeloupe	GLP	1	2	2	5
8	Saint Lucia	LCA	1	2	2	5
9	Saint Kitts and Nevis	SKN	1	1	2	4
10	Grenada	GRN	1	1	0	2
11	Antigua and Barbuda	ANT	1	0	0	1
12	Martinique	MRQ	0	2	2	4
13	British Virgin Islands	IVB	0	2	0	2
14	French Guiana	FGU	0	1	1	2
15	Curaçao	CUW	0	1	1	2
16	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	VIN	0	1	0	1
17	Haiti	HAI	0	0	1	1
18	Bermuda	BER	0	0	1	1

Complete Medal Table Standings

Rank	Team	Code	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Jamaica	JAM	40	22	16	78
2	Bahamas	BAH	10	13	23	46
3	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	9	10	12	25
4	Saint Kitts and Nevis	SKN	5	2	4	11
5	Barbados	BAR	2	6	2	10
6	Grenada	GRN	2	4	4	10
7	Guyana	GUY	3	2	3	8
8	US Virgin Islands	ISV	3	0	0	3
9	Guadeloupe	GLP	1	2	3	6
10	Saint Lucia	LCA	1	5	2	8
11	Cayman Islands	CAY	2	0	1	3
12	Belize	BIZ	2	0	0	2
13	British Virgin Islands	IVB	0	3	0	3
14	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	VIN	0	2	1	3
15	Antigua and Barbuda	ANT	1	1	0	2
16	Turks and Caicos Islands	TKS	0	0	3	3
17	Martinique	MRQ	0	2	2	4
18	Bermuda	BER	0	4	3	7
19	French Guiana	FGU	0	1	1	2
20	Curaçao	CUW	0	1	1	2
21	Haiti	HAI	0	0	2	2