A few months before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Caribbean magazine is going to Jamaica. We introduce you to the most competitive junior athletics championship in the world. A popular event considered to be the “showcase of the future” of athletics according to the country’s sports minister. The 2024 edition took place from March 19 to 23 in Kingston. We followed two athletes, one Jamaican, the other from Sint-Maarten, who dream of breaking into their respective disciplines.
They share the same dream: to win a gold medal. Shaquane Gordon, 17, and Carlos Brison-Caines, 15, both students at Calabar High School in Kingston, are also disciplined athletes.
The first was born in Jamaica. The other in Sint-Maarten. But the nationality doesn’t matter. During the “Boys and Girls championships”, they will compete under the same green and black colors of their school.
In Jamaica, this National championship, affectionately nicknamed the “Champs”, is the sporting event of the year; the one that brings together athletics fans in front of their screens and thousands of others in a packed stadium.
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©Kelly Pujar
For five days, the national stadium in Kingston comes alive with sprints, jumps and throws. On the track, students from schools across the country compete in teams. They join forces to obtain the most points to make their school the champion of the year.
Organized at the start of the season, generally before the Easter holidays, the Champs are scrutinized by specialists in the discipline because they give a first glimpse of those among the juniors who could achieve remarkable performances at the Carifta Games, or even at the championships of the world in their age group.
The most decorated Jamaicans in history, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Usain Bolt made their debut there.
The Champs is the first opportunity to show our talent. The atmosphere at the Champs is so close to that of the Worlds or the Olympic Games. It shows what it’s like to compete in front of a huge crowd.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – three-time Olympic 100 meters champion
This year again, Jamaica topped the medal table at the Carifta Games held in Grenada. Jamaican athletes won 83 medals, including 44 gold, 23 silver and 16 bronze. They are ahead of those of the Bahamas (34 medals) and Trinidad and Tobago (27 medals).
Beyond the results, even the records broken, the Champs are also a moment of national communion unique in the world.
To the sound of vuvuzelas, whistles and other percussion, Jamaicans, from all walks of life, applaud each attempt, each race.
Enthusiasts carefully note the times achieved by the athletes. Everyone wears clothes and accessories in the colors of their former school.
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©Kelly Pujar
And the icing on the cake, sprinters like Elaine Thompson-Herah, Asafa Powell or Hansle Parchment, almost all of whom have been there, come to encourage the young talents.
The latter spare no effort because they know that in the stands, expert eyes are scrutinizing them.
Recruiters from American universities come to identify the best to offer them a scholarship. A passport to higher education for most athletes. An open door to a career among professional athletes. In short, a key to a better life… and even a way out of poverty for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
