James selected CACAC Junior Athlete 2011

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2012 - Grenadian quarter-miler and world 400m champion Kirani James has been selected as the Central American and Caribbean junior male athlete of 2011, according to the governing body for athletics in the region, the Central American and Caribbean Athletics Confederation (CACAC).

James won Grenada’s first gold medal at the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea and then maintained his unbeaten run in the Samsung Diamond League meetings in London and Zurich.

Bahamian Shaunae Miller, who won the 400m at the World Youth in Lille, France, was selected as the junior female athlete of 2011.

CACAC awarded World Champions Yohan Blake and Veronica Campbell-Brown, both of Jamaica, as the top athletes for 2011.

Blake won the 100m title and ran the third leg of the World record breaking 4x100m Relay squad at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu. Three weeks later, he ran the second fastest time ever in the 200m (19.26) at the Samsung Diamond League meeting in Brussels.

The 22-year old sprinter prevailed in a close contest over his countryman, the world’s fastest man and 2011 IAAF Athlete of the Year Usain Bolt, who picked up the 200m gold in Daegu and anchored the Jamaican squad to the 4x100m world record in 37.04, after false starting in the 100m final.

Two-time Olympic 200m winner Campbell-Brown collected her first World crown at the distance, after finishing runner-up in the 100m. The 29-year old Jamaican shows an impressive collection of 10 World Championships medals, including her 100m gold from Helsinki 2005.

“On behalf of the CAC Executive Council we would like to congratulate the winners of the 2011 CAC Athlete of Year, all of them products of the rich development and school programs of the region,” said Central American and Caribbean Athletics Confederation (CACAC) chairman Victor Lopez.

Eight countries combined efforts to collect five gold, seven silver and 10 bronze medals for the Central American and Caribbean region in Daegu. They were Jamaica, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and Colombia. The last two earned their first medals ever at the universal competition.

Four other countries also included athletes in the final: the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, the US Virgin Island and Venezuela. The latter collected its first World Championships points in history.

Additional reporting: Javier Clavelo Robinson