Barbados out of contention to host Racers Grand Prix

2026-03-20 - 01:13

There are to be deliberations regarding a proposal to move this year’s edition of the popular Racers Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver-level event, from Jamaica to T&T. ​A confidential source told Guardian Media Sport that a proposal from an intermediary has been submitted to the Sport Company of T&T, as well as the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, stating that a meeting of key principals from both entities will soon take place to consider the undertaking. If the Grand Prix comes to fruition, it could see some of the region’s and the world’s top track and field stars flock to T&T for a senior athletics meet of that calibre for the first time since the 1985 Massy Games. Last week, Guardian Media Sport learnt of the possibility of the Racers meet’s relocation from the source after the event’s organisers, Racers Track and Field Club, had decided to shelve this year’s edition, set for June, as a result of the effects being felt in Jamaica from the passage of the category four Hurricane Melissa in late October 2025. The idea of carrying on the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event in a neighbouring Caribbean territory is said to have found traction with organisers, while Guyana, Barbados and T&T emerging as leading candidates. However, last week, National Association of Athletics Administrations of T&T (NAAATT) president Ephraim Serrette told Guardian Media Sport that he had heard of the interest but not through formal engagement with the NAAATT. “Nothing has come to the federation, but I know that work has been going on underneath,” said Serrette. “There are some individuals who are trying to have the meet in Trinidad. I am not sure where they went, but they have not confronted the federation. Because to do that, we will have to make space on our calendar; they will be dependent on us for officials and photo finishes and these things, but that discussion hasn’t happened with the federation.” When contacted again yesterday, Serrette said he had heard nothing since the initial conversation with Guardian Media Sport. Up to press time last night, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Phillip Watts did not respond to calls or WhatsApp messages enquiring about the matter. Meanwhile, Athletics Association of Barbados (AAB) president Noel Lynch has said that Barbados expressed initial interest in welcoming the Racers Grand Prix before being told that T&T had apparently beaten them out of the blocks. Lynch said, “I was contacted by somebody from Trinidad, interestingly enough, who said they had a conversation with some principal of the Racers Track Club, and what this person wanted was an alternative venue. “That said, they seemingly started the discussions with T&T. I don’t know with whom, but somebody in T&T. It didn’t seem to get the traction that they wanted initially. They called me and asked if we would have been interested in doing it in Barbados. I told that person, ‘It sounds like something that we might be interested in, but obviously, the decision is not mine alone.’ So I spoke to the government; I had informal conversations with both the minister of sports and the prime minister, and they both said, ‘Of course.’ But by the time I got back to them, they told me that Trinidadian authorities, up to that level as well, the minister of sports and probably even the prime minister, had had a discussion. Now, remember, I’m not sure about this; this is just third-party information. “As a matter of fact, the Prime Minister even spoke to me last week and asked me what has become of this verbal proposal to host this meeting in Barbados, because she’s very interested.” According to World Athletics, a silver-level event on its Continental Tour would require a minimum $75,000 purse prize and a minimum of three top 100-ranked athletes per event in 12 events. It would also require the administering of three urine tests and three-star hotel accommodation for participants, among other criteria. Lynch said the event could be transformative for whichever country gets to host it. “Events like this expose the sport, in my opinion, to the populace in a way in which it wouldn’t have been exposed before. For example, just having a world-class athlete competing at a meet in T&T or in Barbados, people get interested in it on another level. People that wouldn’t normally be interested in track and field or take serious note except for every four years when the Olympics come around”, he said. The second thing is that it opens up your opportunities for things like sponsorship for the sport. It opens up your opportunities for things like wider exposure to your wider populace and even overseas. But what it also does is, in terms of your athletic base, a child who would normally be interested in maybe another sport but sees that there are opportunities available because you can see the best in the world in your jurisdiction, in your neck of the woods, in your backyard, tells a child who has a casual relationship with the sport that this is an opportunity to look at this sport seriously.”