体坛英语新闻：Jamaica sweeps CARIFTA Games with 68 medals

KINGSTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Jamaica swept the annual CARIFTA Games that ended on Monday night, winning an outstanding 68 medals at the Caribbean's premier athletics event for junior athletes.

At the three-day athletics championship held in Nassau, The Bahamas over the Easter holiday, Jamaica won 28 gold, 25 silver and 15 bronze to successfully defend its first place in athletics among the Caribbean.

Trinidad and Tobago was a distant second with 9 gold, 1 silver and 10 bronze. The host country, The Bahamas ranked the third with 8 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze.

On the final day Monday Jamaica copped the gold medals in a number of key events. The Caribbean's largest English-speaking island - renowned for producing world-class athletes such as current men's Olympic 100m champion and 100m world record holder Usain Bolt and women's Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce - captured gold in both the boys' and girls' under-17 200m race.

Jamaica also took gold in the girls' under-17 4x400m, girls' under-20 4x400m, the boys' under-20 4x400m and the boys' under-17 110m hurdles.

The CARIFTA Games was founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) in 1972 and is held annually with participation from member countries.

The games consist of track and field events including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track events, jumping and throwing events, and relays. It is divided into two main age categories: under-17 and under-20 for males and female.

Over the years, Jamaica has been a dominant competitor at the CARIFTA Games, holding 10 of the 21 all-time records in the Under-20 men events and 11 of the 17 Under-20 women's records of all time.