The 44th CARIFTA Games will be held at the Silver Jubilee Stadium of St. Kitts & Nevis from 3rd through 6th April 2015, which will be broadcast Live and Direct through CaribBe TV in the United Kingdom and Europe.
The CARIFTA Games is an annual athletics competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (which as a political organization has given way to CARICOM, but the name of the competition has remained intact) and consists of track and field athletics events, including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track events, jumping and throwing events, and relays.
The first CARIFTA Games were held in 1972 in Barbados, after being inaugurated by the island’s current International Olympic Committee member Austin Sealy, and the games have since been hailed by International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Lamine Diack as “on par with the World Championships.”
Kirani James. Photo courtesy www.universityobserver.ie
The Games have two age categories: under-17 and under-20. Although originally only countries associated with CARIFTA were allowed to compete in the competition, almost all countries and territories of the greater Caribbean take part in the games, which makes it the biggest competition held in the region.
The CARIFTA Games offers young Caribbean athletes the opportunity to shine and prepare themselves for the international arena. Among competitors at the Games who have gone onto great things in the sport include Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica, Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis and Kirani James of Grenada.
Usain Bolt. Photo courtesy it.wikipedia.org
The Games catapulted Usain Bolt’s career when he won the gold medal in the 200 metres in Hamilton at the CARIFTA Games 2004, setting a world junior record of 19.93 sec., which still stands as the world record for the sprint distance today.
The Opening Ceremony of the 44th CARIFTA Games 2015 will be held on Friday night, 3rd April from 7.00pm local time (01.00am GMT). To watch the opening ceremony and all competitions of the CARIFTA Games Live and Direct -either on your TV, Tablet or Smart phone- in the United Kingdom and Europe, during the Easter weekend, just sign-up to CaribBe.tv
