Over 500 of this country’s promising junior athletes will stake their claim to represent the national team at the 2025 Carifta Games from April 19-21 when the Carifta trials are held from April 4-6 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo and the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella respectively.

National Association of Athletics Administration general secretary Jehue Gordon confirmed 536 athletes will be vying for coveted spots on TT’s team for the upcoming games.

From 11 am at the Hasely Crawford training field on April 4, the field athletes will get their first taste of the action. The day’s activities will get under way with the girls’ under-17 javelin throw, with high jump (girls’ under-20), long jump (boys’ under-17) and discus throw (boys’ under-20) all scheduled for the morning session.

The events on the first day of trials are expected to go past 7 pm, as the final session will commence at 6.30 pm. Girls’ triple jump in the under-17 and under-20 age groups will take centre stage in the final session.

The trials will shift to Marabella on April 5, with the preliminary round of the girls’ under-17 100-metre hurdles kickstarting an action-packed schedule at 10 am.

The preliminary rounds for the popular 100m sprint events will be contested in the morning session, along with the 400m prelims and decathlon and heptathlon events.

The semifinals and finals of the 100m sprint events will highlight the final session on day two, with the middle-distance runners also getting the opportunity to shine when the 1,500m finals across the under-17 and under-20 age groups are contested.

The third and final day of the trials on April 6 will also be held in Marabella from 10 am, with the 200m, 800m and 400m hurdles among the events which will be featured in the morning session. The 3,000m and 5,000m events will be included in the final session, while the 200m finals across the under-17 and under-20 categories are scheduled to bring the trials to an end.

At last year’s Carifta Games in Grenada, TT racked up 27 medals which placed them third behind Jamaica (83 medals) and Bahamas (36 medals).

At Carifta 2024, TT’s Janae De Gannes copped the prestigious Austin Sealy award as she was recognised as the most outstanding athlete at the games. De Gannes won under-20 long jump gold in a Carifta record of 6.50m, while she also picked up a silver medal as a member of the girls’ under-20 4x400m relay team.