The IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics in Lille, France attracted more athletes than ever before this year, 1373 in fact, all of who represented 173 countries.

The United States collected the most medals with 16, followed by Kenya with 14 and Jamaica with 9.The Bahamas and Cuba each claimed four medals.
Other Caribbean countries whose athletes reached final rounds were
Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Puerto Rico.

Ameilia Gillispie represented the Cayman Islands in the girls 100 metre dash, but suffered a mishap just at the start, and was unfortunately unable to finish the event.

Alexander Pascal competed in the javelin throw for Cayman and was credited with a personal best of 61.34 metres, which placed him 27th overall.

Jamaica’s Odail Todd was under pressure since the best and third-best youth sprint performers in the world, both from his home country, were injured and unable to compete. Todd remained unfazed and won the 100 metres in a time of 10.51 and gained runner-up honours in the 200 metres at 21.00 seconds flat.

Chanice Porter sailed high and far to gain the bronze medal in the girls high jump at 1.82 metres and topped that with a final round effort in the long jump which measured at 6.22 metres, which was as good as gold.

Fedrick Dacres also showed that Jamaica’s athletics talent extends beyond its well-deserved reputation on the track, as he demolished the competition in the discus throw.
Each of his five legal marks would have earned him first place and he put the icing on the cake when he unleashed a massive 67.05 metre bomb on his final attempt.

The Jamaica girls sprint medley relay squad of Christania Williams, Shericka Jackson, Chrisann Gordon and Olivia James put a spoke in the wheel of the United States entry, which has been dominant in that event. The green, yellow and black were triumphant on this occasion.
Williams, Jackson and James each also gained a bronze medal in the individual 100, 200, and 400 events, respectively.

The Bahamas came out on top in the boys 200 metre dash as Stephen
Newbold sped to a 20.89 clocking, while Shaunae Miller matched that
medal winner at twice the distance in the girls division with a 51.84 mark.
The Collie-Minns provided their usual double trouble for opponents in the triple jump as Latario struck gold with a 16.06 metre leap and Lathone  took the bronze with a 15.51 effort.

Cuba went one-two in the girls heptathlon with all-around efforts by
Yusleidys Mendieta and Yorgelis Rodriguez. Rosalia Vasquez won the girls discus throw and Suzanne Hechavarria took third in the girls 400 metre hurdles.

The next World Youth Championships will take place in Donetsk, the Ukraine, in 2013.

Many of the present World Youth Championships participants will be in action at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain next year.