‘No huge rivalry between Ja and other Caribbean islands’

Jamaica’s head coach David Riley says there is no animosity between Jamaica and the other Caribbean nations as the team prepares to compete at the 2024 Carifta Games in Grenada this weekend.

Jamaica will boast a 79-member squad for this year’s staging, with the competition to run from today to Monday at the Kirani James Stadium.

Last year’s Carifta Games, hosted in Bahamas, brought some controversy as inter-island rivalry spilled out on the track and on social media as well.

However, Riley said, in his vast experience at the Carifta Games, he believed the tensions at last year’s staging was a ‘unique experience’ that will not happen this year.

“I don’t get the sense that there is a huge rivalry,” he said. “I don’t know how many Carifta Games I’ve been to but, over the past 20 years, I’ve probably missed two or three at most. So I do not, from my own experience, find that there is great rivalry or animosity between Jamaica and the Caribbean nations.

“So I can’t confirm that there is tension or anything but Bahamas was a unique case and we don’t expect to see that same kind of energy in Grenada.”

According to Riley, Jamaica and the wider Caribbean share a friendly relationship in the sport of track and field.

He pointed to the fact that several Caribbean nations have visited Jamaica to train and compete in track meets throughout the season.

He also noted there are a number of junior Caribbean athletes who currently attend Jamaican high schools, and several of those athletes will be competing at the Carifta Games.

“In fact, in some cases, entire national teams carry their training to Jamaica, for example, the Turks and Caicos, St Vincent, St Lucia. I mean, there were 19 Caribbean nationals on the flight from Kingston to Grenada.

“Grenada is a very small nation that has produced very good talent, and there are Grenadians who are in the high schools in Jamaica that are going to be competing at the Carifta Games. So I’m not expecting any rivalry like that,” Riley said.

The Riley-led squad will be hoping that they can claim Jamaica’s 38th straight hold on the Carifta Games title and finish atop the medal tally, come Monday.