Team Barbados wins eight medals in CARIFTA Games 2024

Barbados: Team Barbados won eight medals in the just concluded 51^st CARIFTA Games which were held in Grenada from March 30 to April 1, 2024. The team secured six bronze medals and two silver, marking efficient position in the medal tally.

Alleyne School girl, Aniya Nurse won a bronze medal when she placed third in the under-17 girls 100 metres. She was lauded for winning the first-ever medal for Barbados in the CARIFTA Games 2024, marking the opening of the medal tally.

The second medal came from Teon Haynes of the Combermere School who copped the bronze in the under-20 boys’ long jump with a leap of 7.32 metres.

14-year-old Jayden Walcott of Combermere School competing in his first CARIFTA Games won the silver medal in the under-17 boys’ shot put with a personal best measurement of 15.37 metres. He has also been appreciated for his performance which marked the great potential of the first-timers of Barbados.

The fourth medal came out with the performance from Aragorn Straker of Combermere School who copped the silver with a personal best time of 20.76 seconds in the under-20 boys’ 200 metres. His performance qualified him for the World Youth Championships.

The under-20 girls’ 4x400m relay quartet of Kadia Rock, Ariel Archer, Kelia Bentham and Kishawna Niles gained a bronze medal in 3:48.21 minutes and added efficiently to the medal tally.

Besides this, the 2024 CARIFTA Swimming Championships is also taking place in the Bahamas and representing Barbados in the 15-17 girls age group is Sarah Bartlett.

Sarah started swimming in the ocean around the age of three and she did so recreationally for six consecutive years, before she switched to the pool and that is when she became a competitive swimmer.

During her younger years, Sarah participated in other activities including gymnastics, dancing and drama and while she favoured dancing and swimming, when it came to making a choice between the two disciplines, swimming won the choice.

It was a decision which her parents helped to make as they saw the potential in her, but although she griped every evening about going to swimming, her parents made sure that she attended her training sessions.