By Carlena Knight
The 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games long jump gold medallist Sheldon Noble and the 2021 NACAC Championships triple jump silver medallist Taeco O’Garro will lead a seven-man contingent that will represent Antigua and Barbuda at the inaugural Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe.
The Antigua and Barbuda National Olympic Committee announced the team late last week.
Antigua and Barbuda will be competing in three sporting disciplines, namely athletics, swimming and cycling for the June 29-July 3 event.
Sprinter Barak Matthew will compete in the 100m and will join both Noble and O’Garro for athletics who will both be contesting the long and triple jumps.
Meanwhile for swimming, Tivon Benjamin, Jadon Wuillez, Olivia Fuller and Arianna John were selected, and Emmanuel Gayral will be the lone cyclist competing for Antigua and Barbuda.
He will compete in the individual time trial and mass start road race.
Kesswin Anthony will be the athletics team’s manager, St Clair Williams the cycling team’s manager and Nelson Molina-Fojo the swimming team’s manager.
The team will be headed by Chef de Mission, ABNOC second Vice President Thomas Greenaway. Greenaway comes with a wealth of experience and recently completed a successful mission at the Pan AM Junior Games in Columbia.
Meanwhile, Antigua and Barbuda will be represented in the first Giga Games Canoc Esports Series, which will run parallel to the Caribbean Games.
Twenty-nine Caribbean Olympic Committees will unite around the largest Caribbean multi-sport event through seven traditional sport disciplines for the first time in an associated international e-sport component.
Antigua Grammar School’s Glenmoore Fabian and Ottos Comprehensive School’s Dimetre Leitch will represent Antigua and Barbuda.
They will be accompanied by Elijah James.
Both athletes will be competing in the Master Disciplines -Tekken (Martial Arts versus Sport), WindJammers2 (Frisbee Sport), Forza Horizon 5 (Car Racing Sport) and Just Dance Unlimited (Health Sport).
Antigua and Barbuda e-sports is an initiative of the American Corner Antigua supported by the US Embassy Bridgetown that helps Antigua and Barbuda students (13 – 17 years old) to explore emerging STEM/STEM technologies while helping to improve their personal and professional development by installing values in leadership, business, cooperation, trust and shared decision making through e-sports.