MORE THAN 4,400 athletes from 279 schools and institutions are down to compete in 129 events at the 27th Gibson Relays which will be held at the National Stadium on Saturday, February 22.
The relay carnival which was cancelled last year because of the refurbishing of the National Stadium will, as usual, have an international flavour with four overseas high school teams already confirmed from the Turks and Caicos Islands, Grand Cayman and the Bahamas. The overseas teams are expected to compete in the Class I 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x400m.
The opening event is set for 9:45 a.m. with the first of 46 finals to get under way at 5:05 p.m. The final event, 4x400m high school boys, is set for 9:00 p.m.
Most attention will be focussed on the eight championship relays where the winners will receive commemorative watches.
At yesterday's sponsors' luncheon held at Wray and Nephew, JAMALCO and Jamaica International Insurance Company (JIIC) drew two of the stellar events, the high school boys Class 1 4x100m and 4x400m respectively.
The remaining six championship events and their sponsors are: 4x100m institution men - Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS); 4x100m high school girls under-19 - National Commercial Bank (NCB); 4x800m high school boys open - Goodyear; 4x800m high school girls open - Citibank; 4x400m institution men - Berger; 4x400m high school girls open - Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS).
The meet will attract the cream of local talent from schools and institutions. Among those expected to compete for their schools are World Junior Championships 200m gold medallist Usain Bolt of William Knibb High, relay gold medallist Anneisha McLaughlin (Holmwood Technical High), Kerron Stewart (St. Jago), Sherone Simpson (Manchester High) and Simone Facey (Vere Technical) and Asafa Powell, sprint relay silver medallist at last year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
Two new sprint relays, the first open to national federations and a Masters (over-40) event, have been added to the programme.
