The 2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics were held in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. The event served as classifiers for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and took place from July 15–17, 2011. It was the fourth time Puerto Rico hosted the event; the first time in Ponce in 1975, and later in San Juan in 1989 and 1997.

The Jamaican delegation topped the medals table with 26 medals (ten of them gold). Mexico was the next most successful nation with ten golds and a total haul of twenty medals, while Trinidad and Tobago took third with five golds and fifteen medals. Cuba, which had dominated the previous three editions, sent a small, weakened delegation and finished fifth (although seven of its nine athletes won medals). The host nation, Puerto Rico, achieved a total of 14 medals, 3 of which were gold. This was a huge improvement for Puerto Rico since the last edition in 2009, winning 1 more gold medal and 8 more total medals than the previous championships.Robinson, Javier Clavelo (2011-07-18). Jamaica tops medal table in Mayaguez - CAC Champs, final day. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-13.Robinson, Javier Clavelo (2011-07-17). Green denies home win to Culson, Mexico takes medal lead in Mayaguez - CAC Champs, Day 2. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-13.Robinson, Javier Clavelo (2011-07-16). Four golds for Trinidad and Tobago - CAC Champs, Day 1. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-13.

Two Championship records were set at the competition: Bianca Stuart equalled the women's long jump best of 6.81 metres and Mexican Juan Romero improved the 10,000 metres record by 26 seconds. Further to this, twelve national records were bettered during the competition. Jamaica's Korene Hinds was the only athlete to medal twice in individual events, taking the steeplechase title and a silver medal in the women's 1500 metres.

Among the competition highlights were the men's 400 metres hurdles (featuring Leford Green, Félix Sánchez and Jehue Gordon) and a duel between Renny Quow and Ramon Miller in the 400 metres. Vonette Dixon won a quick women's 100 metres hurdles where Brigitte Merlano and Lina Flórez became the first Colombians under thirteen seconds for the event. Levern Spencer secured her fourth consecutive high jump title. Cuban throwers Guillermo Martínez and Roberto Janet were the only other athletes who defended their titles from the 2009 edition.

Organisation The event had a budget of $650,000.00, the municipal government of Mayagüez has made a commitment to give $300,000.00 of these and the rest were from private sponsors. By April 28, 2011, twenty three participating countries had confirmed there attendance.

The final day of the event marked the first anniversary of the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games and included artistic presentation in an activity in the plaza in front of the Central American Torch. The event was attended by Lamine Diack, the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Participation There were 449 athletes from 35 countries (33 member federations of the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CACAC) and 2 of the 4 observer nations – Curaçao and Martinique) competing in total. There were no athletes from Anguilla, French Guiana and Guadeloupe.

Athletes from Curaçao made their first appearance at the competition under their island's flag, following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles the previous year.

Medal summary

Men's events 100 metres 10.05 10.11 10.18200 metres 20.60 20.64 20.78400 metres 45.44 45.56 45.93800 metres 1:48.15 1:48.94 1:49.671500 metres 3:44.92 3:45.78 3:46.09 5000 metres 14:08.10 14:14.30 14:22.0110,000 metres 28:54.06 29:15.49 30:55.71Half marathon 1:07:08 1:08:38 1:09:173000 m steeplechase 8:55.86 8:58.95 9:01.35 110 m hurdles 13.49 13.54 13.60400 m hurdles 49.03 49.41 50.10High jump 2.28 m 2.25 m 2.25 mPole vault 5.00 m 4.90 m 4.90 mLong jump 8.06 m 7.81 m 7.75 mTriple jump 17.09 m 16.22 m 16.01 mShot put 19.16 m 18.66 m 18.52 m Discus throw 60.20 m 58.80 m 56.85 m Hammer throw 71.65 m 65.96 m 63.63 mJavelin throw 81.55 m 75.71 m 74.07 mDecathlon 7397 pts 7299 pts 6766 pts20,000 m race walk 1:28:56.08 1:40:18.94 1:40:34.164 × 100 m relay Lerone ClarkeDexter LeeJason YoungOshane Bailey 38.81 Aaron ArmstrongDarrel BrownEmmanuel CallenderKeston Bledman 38.89 Jason RogersKim CollinsAntoine AdamsBrijesh Lawrence 39.07 4 × 400 m relay LaToy WilliamsAvard MoncurMichael MathieuRamon Miller 3:01.33 Lalonde GordonJarrin SolomonDeon LendoreRenny Quow 3:01.65 Dwight MullingsRiker HyltonDawayne BarrettLeford Green 3:02.00

Women's events 100 metres 11.27 11.36 11.39 200 metres 22.80 22.90 23.13 400 metres 51.69 51.85 51.90800 metres 2:01.50 2:02.23 2:02.83 1500 metres 4:22.65 4:23.78 4:24.93 5000 metres 16:05.68 16:06.83 17:23.01Half marathon 1:21:07 1:21:45 1:22:203000 m steeplechase 9:54.67 9:58.11 10:42.65100 m hurdles 12.77 12.89 12.94400 m hurdles 56.75 57.23 57.24 High jump 1.82 m 1.82 m 1.79 mPole vault 4.00 m 3.95 m 3.80 mLong jump 6.81 m , 6.47 m 6.30 mTriple jump 13.50 m 13.40 m 13.11 mShot put 19.00 m 17.12 m 17.05 mDiscus throw 62.06 m 54.03 m 52.75 m Hammer throw 67.97 m 65.74 m 62.46 mJavelin throw 54.29 m 54.02 m 53.13 mHeptathlon 5704 pts 5601 pts 5589 pts10,000 m track walk 47:19.91 48:23.59 55:52.534 × 100 m relay Magnolia HowellMichelle-Lee AhyeAyanna HutchinsonSemoy Hackett 43.47 Jura LevyAnastasia Le-RoySimone FaceyPatricia Hall 43.63 V'Alonee RobinsonNivea SmithCache ArmbristerAnthonique Strachan 43.74 4 × 400 m relay Andrea SutherlandShereefa LloydNatoya GoulePatricia Hall 3:29.86 Raysa SanchezDiana TaylorRosa FabianYolanda Osana 3:34.73 Alena HarrimanMagnolia HowellJosanne LucasAfiya Walker 3:34.84

Medal table

Participating nations

(6) (4) (29) (13) (1) (8) (7) (7) (32) (7) (8) (6) (5) (37) (10) (6) (3) (17) (8) (34) (4) (46) (2) (1) (4) (59) (8) (5) (9) (3) (2) (27) (1) (13) (17)

References

Results CAC Mayagüez PUR 15 - 17 July/ 23rd Central American and Caribbean Championships. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2011-08-13.

External links Official website Official CACAC Website