Robert Bailey, Freelance Writer
Waquar DaCosta (left) and Natoya Goule pose with their medals shortly after arriving at the Norman Manley International Airport from the CARIFTA Games in St. Kitts. Jamaica topped the medal table with 69 medals. - photo by Robert Bailey
MICHAEL CARR, head coach of Jamaica's track and field team at this year's CARIFTA Games, expressed concerns about the performances of a number of male sprinters upon his arrival in the island yesterday.
"I think we will have to take a good look at our younger sprinters," Carr said.
"I don't think the Under-17 sprinters came through as much as they should have," he said in an interview with The Gleaner shortly after the team's arrival at Norman Manley International Airport from St Kitts.
"However, our field athletes did very well in the throws and jumps and that was a good sign for us," he said.
The Jamaicans continued their dominance of the meet by topping the medal table with 69 medals - 29 gold, 25 silver and 15 bronze - to finish well ahead of Trinidad and Tobago 30 (10G, 10S, 10B), The Bahamas 25 (8G, 3S, 12B), Barbados 26 (7G, 10S, 9B) and Martinique 14 (5G, 3S, 6B).
Pleased with performance
Carr also said he was pleased with the overall performance of the team.
"This was overall a team effort by the coaching staff and the athletes, and I think the team did pretty well," he said.
Carr said the team had some problems with accommodation and food early but as the meet went on they were able to gain a lot of momentum.
"We were very low on the first day but then we started to get the momentum and we started to get better and better and we turned the negative things into positives," he said.
Looking ahead, Carr said: "We always do well at the World Juniors and this year won't be any different, "I think Jamaica has a strong team going to the World Junior Championships, especially in our 4x100m relay team in the boys because, without Yohan Blake, we were able to run sub-40 seconds at CARIFTA and with a Blake in it, I think we are definitely going to run sub-39."
