Guyanese athletes at CARIFTA Games 2022: Gibbons cops second CARIFTA gold, Harvey adds silver to tally

By Jemima Holmes

Anisha Gibbons stamped her authority in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday morning when she added a second CARIFTA gold medal to her tally. She was not the only Guyanese on the podium on Sunday, however, as Attoya Harvey followed up her gold medal performance on Saturday with a silver medal in the Girls’ 14-17 3000m event.
In the field events arena, the 18-year-old Gibbons had the following throws: 37.53m, 40.64m, 37.49m, 40.99m and a best throw of 42.54m, which assured her of the gold medal in the Girls’ Under-20 event. Gibbons topped a field of 8 other competitors from around the Caribbean; Barbados’s Vivica Addison finished in second place with a best throw of 41.92m and her compatriot Vanessa Greaves was third, having thrown 41.17m on her best attempt.

Gibbons, who competes for Ruralites Athletics Club locally, is no stranger to the top of the podium, having won Guyana’s first javelin Gold at the 2019 CARIFTA Games in the Cayman Islands. On that occasion, she had competed in the Under-17 category.
Over on the track, Harvey asserted her dominance as a distance athlete when she finished second only to Jamaica’s Samantha Pryce, who clocked 10:40.07 for the gold. Harvey crossed the line soon after in 10:51.40 for second, while Jamaican Ashara Frater stopped the clock at 11:03.76 for the bronze.
More CARIFTA action on Sunday morning saw Harvey and Narissa McPherson, both of whom have already medaled at the games in other events, qualifying for the Girls’ Under-17 800m final with the best qualifying times out of the entire field of competitors.
Racing in different Heats, Harvey won Heat 1 with a time of 2:15.76, while McPherson clocked 2:19.89 to win Heat 2. Andrene Peart, Ricaria Campbell (Jamaica), Michelle Smith (USVI), Ashlyn Simmons (Barbados), Jaeda Grant (Bermuda), and Kayleigh Forde of Trinidad and Tobago will feature in Monday’s final alongside the dominant Guyanese duo.

In other preliminary events in Sunday morning’s session at the CARIFTA Games, Guyana had mixed fortunes in the Boys’ Under-20 200m, with Shamar Horatio clocking 21.83s and finishing fourth in Heat 1. And while he was not an automatic qualifier, the Guyanese had the best time out of the other racers, thus gaining him a spot in Sunday afternoon’s Semifinal.
Ezekiel Newton missed a semifinal berth, after crossing the line fifth in Heat 4 with a time of 22.28s.
Later in the day, Horatio was not as fortunate in the semis, clocking 21.75s for fifth place in Heat 2. Horatio’s time was not good enough for either automatic qualification or qualification on time.
In the distaff, Karese Lloyd took to the track in Heat 1 of the Girls U20 200m, clocking 25.69s for 7th place in the heat, in which Jamaica’s Kaylia Kelly won in 23.99s.
In Heat 2, however, Keliza Smith, who came close to a 100m bronze on Saturday night, stooped the clock in 24.34s for second place, gaining automatic qualification to the event’s final on Monday evening. Brianna Lyston of Jamaica won the heat in 23.93s.
The Land of Many Waters also witnessed representation in the Boys’ Under 20 Long Jump, which featured Wesley Tyndall. Tyndall leaped to 7.11m, 6.86m, 6.94m, 7.04m, 6.61m, and his final jump of 7.12m was his best for the day. However, Tyndall’s effort was not good enough for a podium finish.
Jaydon Hibbert of Jamaica jumped 7.62m for Gold, St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Uroy Ryan leaped 7.52m for silver, while Aren Spencer of Barbados leaped 7.48m for the third position.
In the relays, Guyana’s lone relay team – Boys Under-20 4×100, completed their exchanges and crossed the line in 42.79s for sixth place in the event. Jamaica’s team, clocking 39.15s broke the CARIFTA record for the gold medal, while Bahamas (40.41s) and Cayman Islands (40.72s) took the remaining podium positions respectively.
The Guyanese contingent has now copped 5 medals at the games; two gold and three silver. The likes of Smith, Austin, McPherson, Javon Roberts, Adriel Austin, Stafon Roach and Trevon Hamer will be in action for Guyana on the final day of the Games in Kingston, Jamaica, today.