GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands,  CMC – Over 500 athletes from 25 nations are set for the annual rite of passage in Caribbean track & field, when the CARIFTA Games open tomorrow here.

The Truman Bodden Sports Complex in the Grand Cayman capital will provide the backdrop for the best young athletes in the region to strut their stuff.

It’s the first time in 15 years that the event will be held in the Cayman Islands, and organisers were busy putting the finishing touches in place for the grand opening.

As always, athletes will contest two age categories for boys and girls – Under 17 and Under 20 – in the diverse events from sprint races to hurdles to middle and long distance to jumping and throwing events.

Countries sending athletes will use the Games to identify talent for a number of upcoming track & field meet, but this year’s event will have extra-special significance, since the first-ever World Youth Olympic Games takes place in Singapore, and many of the athletes will seek to reach qualifying standards.

But this nothing news, the CARIFTA Games have traditionally served as a training ground for many of the Caribbean’s greatest athletes.

It was at the CARIFTA Games that a stringy Jamaican lad named Usain Bolt set tongues wagging with an amazing run in the 200 metres.

He was identified for greatness, and has not let the pundits down, since he is currently the World’s fastest man, holding World records in the 100 and 200m.

More than 30 Olympic Games medallists can trace their prominent athletic careers back to the CARIFTA Games.

Three months after experiencing the earthquake, Haiti is also expected to send a team to participate in the games.

Organisers and representatives from both private and public sector organizations in the Caymans have worked together to raise funds to donate to the Haitian team to assist with off-setting the costs of participating in games for the country’s athletic federation.

The event will be broadcast “live” across the region through a partnership between the Caribbean Media Corporation, and the Games’ main sponsor, LIME.

A top-flight team of commentators that includes Caymans-based Barbadian Jason Harper, Jamaica’s Hubert Lawrence, and St. Lucian Terry Finisterre will lead CMC Sports’ TV coverage of the Games.

The morning session begins at 10 a.m. (East Caribbean Time), and coverage of the evening action gets going from around 5 p.m. (ECT).