Smith Reflects on Record-Setting Gold Medal Win at CARIFTA Games

During the 49th annual Caribbean Free Trade Association games, Virgin Islander Michelle Smith won gold and set a CARIFTA games record for the 400m hurdles.

Held this year from April 16-18 in Kingston, Jamaica, the CARIFTA games are where the best of the Caribbean’s athletes get their start, among them Usain Bolt and Shaunae Miller-Uibo.

With a time of 58.61 seconds, Smith not only set CARIFTA games and V.I. National Junior records, but also the world record for the fastest time in 2022 amongst runners under the age of 18. Smith competed in the U17 age group, however the time she posted was faster than the U20 age group. This has qualified her for the World Athletics U20 Championships that will be held Aug. 1-6 in Cali, Colombia.

At just 15 years old, Smith is the first Virgin Islander ever to set a record at the CARIFTA games, and just the fourth to receive gold. The other three to win gold were Jimmy Fleming in the 200m in Barbados (1985), Sanny Eugene in the 800m in Tobago (2005), and Allison Peter twice in the 200m — in St. Kitts & Nevis in 2008 and the Cayman Islands in 2010.