It was simply stupendous! That was the astonishment that adorned the faces of many who witnessed the new girls’ Under-20 World Record in the 4X100m relay inside Kingston’s National Stadium on Sunday evening by Jamaica.
Blessed with an abundance of foot speed, the likes of which have never been assembled in one team before, Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brianna Lyston, and Tia Clayton sped to a new mark of 42.58 seconds at the 49th Carifta Games.
The quartet, which included the World Under-20 100m gold medalist Tina Clayton, had the race won from the first leg when Cole burst out of the blocks to deliver the baton to Tina well clear of their rivals. The 2022 Carifta Games 100m gold medalist extended the lead by the time she handed over to Lyston, who left the field for dead at the final change over to Tia.
The 2022 Carifta Games silver medalist sped away to the finish line to create history in front of World Athletics boss Seb Coe, winning by nearly three seconds.
Barbados was next, well back in 45.36 seconds, with Trinidad and Tobago third in 46.12 seconds.
The Jamaicans, current 4x100m Under-20 World Championships gold medalists from Nairobi, Kenya, when they ran 42.94 seconds last summer, erased the previous World Under-20 World Record of 43.27 seconds, as well as the Carifta Games mark of 44.03 seconds, which was set by Jamaica in 2011.
The excitement was still permeating the air when Jamaica’s Under-20 boys treated the highly charged crowd with a new Carifta Games record in the 4x100m relay.
Bouwahjgie Nkrumie started strongly and relayed to Bryan Levell, who opened up a gap before handing over to DeAndre Daley, who set up anchor leg runner Sandrey Davison for an easy victory in 39.15 seconds.
The Under-20 boys thus completed a clean sweep of all 4x100m relays by Jamaica, and they erased the previous mark of 39.38 seconds set by Jamaica in 2014. The Bahamas took the second spot with 40.41 seconds, while the Cayman Islands third at 40.72 seconds.
The Under-17 girls had easily won their contest in 45.38 seconds, ahead of The Bahamas with 47.13 seconds and Trinidad and Tobago with 48.19 seconds.
The boys’ equivalent resulted in Jamaica clocking 41.74 seconds for the victory. Trinidad and Tobago were second with 42.77 seconds, and the Cayman Islands third in 43.77 seconds.
At the end of the second of the three-day meet on Sunday, Jamaica stretched their lead in the medals table to 54, comprising 26 gold, 19 silver, and nine bronze.
The British Virgin Islands are second with four gold, and a bronze in their five medals won. Trinidad and Tobago are next with 16 medals, two gold, six silver, and eight bronze. Guyana is next with two gold and three silver in the five medals won, while The Bahamas complete the top five with one gold, six silver, and three bronze.
On Sunday, Jamaica’s Chavez Penn completed a golden double when he won the boys’ Under-17 high jump and triple jump.
He won the high jump earlier in the afternoon when he cleared 2.05m to finish ahead of Andrew Stone (2.00m) of the Cayman Islands and compatriot Aaron McKenzie with 1.98m.
Penn was also tops in the triple jump as he cut the sand at 14.63m ahead of teammate Euan Young (14.32m) and Jonathan Rogers of The Bahamas with 13.99m.
Samantha Pryce of Jamaica romped home in the 3000m in 10:40.07 minutes. Attoya Harvey of Guyana was second in 10:51.40, and Jamaica’s Ashara Frater in third place in 11:03.76 minutes.
The competition comes to an end on Monday with 25 finals up for decision and Jamaica well poised to make it win number 44 and the 36th consecutively.
Medals Table after Day 2
Country G S B Tally
Jamaica 26 19 9 54
British Virgin Islands 4 0 1 5
Trinidad & Tobago 2 6 8 16
Guyana 2 3 0 5
Bahamas 1 6 3 10
Barbados 1 2 3 6
Cayman Islands 1 1 2 4
Dominica 1 1 0 2
Antigua & Barbuda 1 0 2 3
French Guiana 1 0 0 1
