A New Flag place at the Games is awarded to one man and one woman for each of the five continental associations. The recipient must be the highest ranked athlete from their continent and race for a country that has not already qualified an athlete of the same gender to Paris.

Launch of 2024 Barbados Triathlon Calendar, while Sports Ministry considers Exit Strategy for Retiring Competitors

February 12, 2024

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Dr Garth McIntyre – New President of the Barbados Federation of Island Triathletes (BFIT) declared at One Barbados Place how the 2024 Barbados Triathlon calendar will feature three major regional and continental events:

The World Triathlon Americas Triathlon Cup, 17^th March.
World Triathlon Development Regional Cup and Training Camp, 2^nd-7^th July
CARIFTA Triathlon, Aquathlon & Mixed Relays Championships, 17^th-18^th August

All events will be held on the Mighty Grynner Highway and Brandons Beach

The World Triathlon Americas Triathlon Cup, 17^th March

This event will attract elite triathletes from the Americas looking to increase their points scores heading into the Olympics selection process. 50-60 athletes are expected to participate with large contingents from Canada, the USA, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil. A significant prize purse provides added incentive.

Dr McIntyre says it’s a significant coup for Barbados to host this world class event.

Importantly, this event will support the objective of having Barbados Olympic Triathlon hopeful Matthew Wright earn additional points for Olympic qualification.

Awarded the prestigious BOA Senior Male Athlete of the Year award in 2023, Wright has been deemed as the clear front-runner to claim the Americas male New Flag Olympic slot. With a buffer of almost 500 points, he will head into 2024 as the prohibitive favourite to claim the New Flag place.

Currently, Wright is ranked 49th in the world. With 1888 points (rounded to the nearest integer), Wright has the second-best ranking of any man across the five New Flag races. After finishing 2nd at the Hong Kong Asia Cup recently, he has boosted his total to 1948 points and is the only New Flag contender to stand inside the top-50 of the men’s world rankings.

BFIT also expect some of their up-and-coming local and overseas juniors will take the opportunity to measure themselves against athletes who are further along the development pathway.

World Triathlon Development Regional Cup and Training Camp, 2^nd-7^th July

This event attracts 25-30 athletes, ages 16+, from Caribbean countries such as Trinidad, Jamaica, Aruba, Bahamas, Grenada, and the Bahamas. This is a development event approved by the World Triathlon Executive Board to support developing nations’ racing experience in their continent/region.

The Regional Cup will be the culmination of a week-long Athlete Regional Camp, which will see the 18 junior athletes engaging in a pre-race triathlon camp filled with a number of theoretical and practical sessions facilitated by World Triathlon certified coaches.

This is the second year in which this camp is being held in Barbados. Last year’s race saw the two top podium spots going to Barbados’ Niel Skinner and Fynn respectively, with Barbados taking second and third place in the women’s race with Isis Gaskin and Chara Hinds.

CARIFTA Triathlon, Aquathlon & Mixed Relays Championships, 17^th-18^th August

Approximately one hundred and fifty (150) athletes, their families and supporters are expected in Barbados come August next year when the 6^th CARIFTA Triathlon & Aquathlon comes back home to Barbados in 2024.

First staged in 2017 in Barbados, the event has so far been held in Tobago (2018), Jamaica (2019), Bermuda (2022) and the Bahamas in 2023.

The regional triathlon championship, for ages 11-21 years old, will be held on the Mighty Grynner Highway on 17 and 18 August. Organised by the Barbados Federation of Island Triathletes (BFIT), it is expected to be one of the highlights on the sporting calendar for Barbados in 2024.

Barbados has dominated the last two events, capturing overall team golds in both 2022 and 2023, with a 15-medal haul, including 8 gold medals in the Bahamas in August. In the first staging since COVID, a small team of thirteen participated in the games in Bermuda in 2022, with the team growing to twenty-three this year for the Bahamas competition.

Sports Minister Charles Griffith sees need for #Barbadian athletes to safeguard their twilight years, considers educating and enabling such prominent contributors to Barbados as a vitally necessary way forward.

Having CARIFTA Triathlon here in Barbados next year will drive interest in the sport, and potentially position Barbados as a force to be reckoned with in triathlon in the Americas. We have a growing cadre of youth athletes who have the potential to go international.

Beyond that BFIT’s objective is to extend our reach into the community to broaden participation in triathlon and to provide opportunities to Barbadian youth.

As one of the fastest growing sports internationally, triathlon is rapidly becoming a sport of choice for athletes who can combine the core attributes of swimming and running, with riding, as a route to athletic and academic achievement, with an increasing availability of scholarships at overseas Universities.

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