Flow has signed a three-year partnership with the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) to be the exclusive broadcast partner and sponsor of the CARIFTA Games of which seven local athletes have already qualified for.
The event is now known as the Flow CARIFTA Games.
Flow, which was also the region’s exclusive broadcast partner for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, will present more than 20 hours of live coverage during the three-day event in Curacao. NACAC has commissioned 6 Gear to do the production of the event.
Curacao will host the 46th CARIFTA Games from April 15 to 17 and in excess of 650 athletes and officials have confirmed their participation; this is the first time that Curacao will host the CARIFTA Games.
According to IAAF World Athletics Club President, Lamine Diack, CARIFTA is “on par with the World Championships.
“The meet is considered one of the best development meets in world athletics. Having started out on grass tracks, with athletes staying in schools or other similar temporary shelter, the CARIFTA Games have come a long way. College and university coaches and scouts from the United States make their way to the games each year, in a bid to identify up-and-coming talent.
Local athletes, Kenisha Phillips, Compton Caesar, Daniel Williams, Claudrice McKoy, Anfernee Headecker along with Jermaine Brown will be looking to medal at the Games and perhaps grab the attention of the US scouts. The meet normally runs during the Easter period and includes over 150 separate events. There are two age categories for boys and girls: under-17 and under-20, the latter in line with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) guidelines for junior athletes.
CARIFTA runs entirely under IAAF rules and has produced World Record holders such as Usain Bolt, Darrel Brown, World and Olympic Champions such as Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica, Kim Collins of St Kitts-Nevis and Pauline Davis-Thompson of The Bahamas, Alleyne Francique of Grenada and Obadele Thompson of Barbados.
Guyana has a total of 47 medals at the meet, 16 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze.