Antigua and Barbuda are in joint sixth place on the medals list as day two of the Carifta Track & Field Championships begins in Trinidad & Tobago.
We caught up with Head Coach Jamille Nelson, who expressed his satisfaction with the team’s progress to date: “Medals gained as expected. All the 400m athletes ran personal bests. The athletes came out putting their best foot forward; we’re super proud of them. We look forward to today and more successes.”
Heather Samuel-Daley, Director of Sports and Assistant Coach of the Carifta squad, provided a fulsome recount of yesterday’s top performers. “Antigua and Barbuda has always done well at Carifta Games, some years better than others. We have a good bunch of athletes this year who have shown tremendous growth in their development.
For day one we have garnered three medals; three really good medals.
Gold in the 400m under-17 in Tyra Fenton, who is the reigning junior sportswoman of the year. She still has another year of under-17 at the Carifta Games. Today, Sunday, she goes in the 200m. Monday is the final and we are expecting another gold based upon times produced to date. So, we can have two gold medals from Tyra Fenton. But obviously, the race has to be run first.
And then we have the old veteran, Geolyna Dowdy, who has made the Carifta finals since she started in 2022 as an under-17. This is her last year of Carifta. And here she is producing the number three time by an Antiguan woman in the 100 metres at 11.43 seconds and taking Silver. Geolyna is a resilient athlete and has come a long way. She has had many ups and downs, and here she is producing a scintillating 100 metre run last night. We are super proud of her. She should do well today as well in the 200 metres. Again, the race must be run. We are wishing her all the best.
We have the Bronze medal came from our first medallist, Zoli Richards. She is a first-timer and a very talented young lady. I don’t think she even knows how much talent she has. But she has been consistently working hard; I am sure that she will be around for the future. She could add another event, whether it is discus or javelin, to her repertoire to ensure that she has more than one opportunity to get a medal.
We are also listening out for swimming. I can’t give you too much on the swimming. But I am hearing that they are also racking up their medals.”
Tyra Fenton made history becoming Antigua and Barbuda’s first gold medallist at Girls 400m in the U17 category at the Carifta Games with a lifetime best of 53:93s, a new National U18 Record.
Geolyna Dowdye earned the Silver in the Girls U20 200M in a time of 11:43s.
Ranique Richards won bronze in the Girls U17 Shot Put. She threw a distance of 12.57m to earn the nation’s first medal of the 2025 Carifta Games.
Jamaica sits at the top of the table with 20 medals. All participating territories have had creditable performances, a positive development for Caribbean track and field.
Antigua and Barbuda Carifta Team (cover photo) – Gillian Matthew – Team Manager, Jada Gunthrope, Shenika Bentick, Geolyna Dowdye, Kettia Ambrose, Hanief Jones, Jamille Nelson – Head Coach, Oswald Baptiste – Assistant Coach, Kesswin Anthony – Safeguarding Officer.
Back: Tyra Fenton, Ranique Richards, Hannah Charles, Zonique Charles, Kevon Campbell, Naeem Simon, Maliek Francis, Judah Ashe, Marcus Henry, Kasiya Daley, Cleon Jiseph, Conroy Wilson, Javon Simon