It was a very eventful meet as there were thrills, spills and upsets at the Scotiabank sponsored Olympic Trials in Nassau, Bahamas. Not the least of the hotly anticipated events was the showdown in the men’s 400M where Chris Brown, 2007 World Champion faced off with Andretti Bain the 2008 NCAA 400M champion. Brown got the better of Bain with a run of 45.43s while Bain came in at 45.53s. Michael Mathieu was third in 45.72.

Also on form was Derrick Atkins who won his 100M sprint in 9.97s. Leaving much of the field behind him, Atkins asserted his dominance on the local competition and showed that he was very much in contention for a medal in Beijing for the event. Shamar Sands would not be outdone after breaking the Bahamian record for the 110M hurdles with a run of 13.44s. Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie will also be on the Beijing team after placing first in the 200M and second in the 100M. Ferguson-McKenzie clocked 11.22s behind Chandra Sturrup’s 11.14s. Ferguson-McKenzie was pushed hard to the tape by the up and coming Sheniqua Ferguson, they clocked a season’s best 22.82s and 22.85s respectively.

Jamaica and Bahamas male and female national volleyball teams completed an intense two days of training at the UWI court in Jamaica on June 21-22 . The Jamaican contingent wrapped up the series 3-1 in favour of the male team with the female running out 4-0 winners.

Jamaican male and female teams both won the four match training sessions 3-1. The training session is part preparation for the upcoming Caribbean Volleyball Championships to be held in Barabdos during the week of July 13-21.

In game 1 the Jamaica male team were 3-1 winners. All sets being close encounters with the first set a close 25-23 in Jamaica’s favour despite losing the second set 18-25. In game 2, the Bahamians won 3-2 with only the final set being won by more than 6 points.

On day 2, the Jamaicans romped to 3-0 and 3-1 victories. the second game being a clsoe encounter.

The Jamaican female team also performed well. On day 1, Jamaica won both games taking the first in 3-1 and the second 3-0. On day 2, it was more of the same though the games were more intense. The first game was won 3-2 and the second 3-1.

It will be an interesting Championship based on teh performances by both teams. Though the Jamaicans were not always fully focussed, with improvements great things are expected.

It was a mirror performance of the first leg it seemed. Jamaica punished the lack of will on the part of the Bahamians who looked as if they hadn’t come to play football at all. When the dust settled, the Jamaicans were 6-0 ahead, winning 13-0 on aggregate. Luton Shelton took the opportunity to score his hat-trick. Also on the score cards were Deon Burton, and Tyrone Marshall.

In the opening rounds of the CONCACAF U-20 campaign, Cuba sought to assert their dominance early with a 5-0 thrashing of the Bahamas in Havana. With goals from Barbaro Adrila, Marcel Hernandez, Alberto Palmero, Lazaro Garcia and Hebiel Cordoves, Cuba opened the floodgates at the Pedro Marrero Stadium. The teams are competing out of Group A which also features Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

In the second installment of the Jason Roberts Summer Kicking Programme. Grenada will play host to some of Europe’s finest players, coaches and administrators. The likes of Jason Jarret, Emile William Ivanhoe Hesky, Jason Brown and Jason Roberts himself will be in attendance as they look to build a system for professional development of the island’s youth in football. The team will be making courtesy calls on government officials, sporting organizations, schools and communities. Read more about it here.

The trials for the Bahamian Special Olympics are on. The events started with swimming at the Betty Kelly-Kenning Swim Complex but later moved to the Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium for the field events. The opening ceremony got started shortly after 12pm with remarks from Minister of State for Sports Byron Woodside. Read more about it here.

World Indoor Silver Medalist Christine Amertil registered a sprint double to start her Olympic campaign on a high note. Amertil won the 100M and 200M comfortably besting a field of up and coming Caribbean talent at the Georgia Bulldog Limited meeting in Athens Georgia. Amertil, who is better known for her 400M skills, turned in a time of 11.58s on the 100M and sealed the double with a time of 23.07s

The Bahamas stun heavy favourites Jamaica 1-0 in the football qualifiers for next Olympics to be held in Beijing, China. Jamaica had a lackluster performance but to the credit of the Bahamians they stuck to the task and scored in the 84th minute to crash any hopes the Jamaicans had of qualifying. Read more here

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The house of Assembly recently recognised the amazing performances of Bahamian athletes at the 2006 World Athletics Championship in Osaka, Japan. The highlight performances were Donald Thomas’s gold medal in the mens high jump, Derrick Watkins taking silver in the stellar mens 100m and the men’s 4×400 silver performance. Details

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The Olympic qualifiers are now on for Women’s soccer in the region. The qualifiers thus far have yielded some rather interesting results, the most astounding ones being the Cuban victory over the British Virgin Islands - 21:0 and the Trinidad and Tobago win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines - 9:0. Get more of these fabulous results here.