By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ST George's, Grenada: The first of two Bahamasair chartered flights touched down at the Grenada International Airport on Thursday just before 1pm with 54 of the 56 athletes scheduled to compete on the BTC Bahamas Team here at the 45th Carifta Games during the Easter holiday weekend.

The team, managed by Mildred Adderley with the coaching staff headed by Wendall Collie, settled into the games village at the Rex Hotel where they held their first team meeting. They will be joined on Friday by Keanu Pennerman and Kinard Rolle, who are both coming directly from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in the United States.

At the new Grenada Athletic Stadium, a press conference was held by the local organising committee and the North American and Central American and Caribbean region (NACAC). The 26 participating countries and more than 600 athletes, along with delegates and the spectators, were welcomed to Grenada, known as the "Spice" island and the home of Kirani James, the 2011 IAAF World Championship men's 400 metres and the reigning Olympic champion.

This will be the first time that a major track and field competition will be held in the stadium that was reconstructed by the People's Republic of China through the China State Construction Engineering Corporation in 2006 after it was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The stadium is adjacent to the cricket stadium in Queen's Park on the outskirts of the city, overlooking the ocean and the surrounding mountains. The cricket stadium was also destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, but was rebuilt in time for the hosting of the World Cup Cricket in 2007.

During the press conference, Veda Bruno-Victor, the chairperson of the LOC, indicated that they anticipate this being the most competitive games and they are looking forward to having every session in the 7,000 seat stadium filled to capacity every session.

The meet will have six sessions, starting on Saturday at 9 am and continue at 4 pm each day. The official opening ceremonies will take place on Saturday at 3 pm and one major difference this year is that, once the athletes have completed a final, the top three finishers will remain in a holding block and will be presented with their medals shortly after.

Victor Lopez, president of NACAC, confirmed that they were the only region to be able to secure additional funding from the IAAF, which will go a long way in hosting the games. Bruno-Victor has revealed that it will cost an estimated $3 million East Caribbean Dollars or $1.1 million US, to host the three-day event.

The Bahamas, hoping to improve on its 31 medals won last year for second place in St Kitts and Nevis, has the second largest contingent with 59 athletes registered. Keith Victor, known as the voice of the Carifta Games, said Grenada is looking forward to the flair that the Bahamas brings to the games with the junkanoo group. A 18-member team of junkanooers travelled on a second Bahamasair charted jet that brought government officials, family members and friends to Grenada late Thursday.

Jamaica, the perennial kingpins, has a total of 80 athletes, while hosts Grenada has 56. Trinidad & Tobago is next with 42.

A technical meeting is scheduled for Friday when the final entries will be submitted.

The games are being sponsored by Flow telecommunication provider.

IAAF president Sebastian Coe is expected to lead the list of dignitaries, who will be on hand to view the games. James is not expected to attend, but at the press conference, it was announced that Jamaica's Usain Bolt, holder of the two sprint world records and a member of the 4 x 100m relay team, is in Grenada, as well as Ato Bolden, a multiple Olympic and World Championship medalist, as a coach of two athletes from his native Trinidad & Tobago.

Pauline Davis, the second Bahamian, but the first woman and the first person to go back-to-back as a member of the IAAF Council, was also recognised by her presence at the press conference. Davis was the third Bahamian to win the coveted Austin Sealy award as the most outstanding athlete during the 1984 games at the Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium in Nassau. She followed Maryann Higgs, the 1978 winner and Lavern Eve, a two-time recipient in 1982 and 1983.