The World Athletics Championships are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics. Alongside the Olympic Games, they represent the highest level championships of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking. Separate World Championships are held by World Athletics for certain other outdoor events, including cross-country running and half-marathon, as well as indoor and age-group championships.
The United States competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 400 competitors, 316 men and 84 women, took part in 185 events in 21 sports.
Canada competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States, held from 28 July to 12 August 1984. Canada returned to the Summer Games after having participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. 408 competitors, 257 men and 151 women, took part in 193 events in 23 sports.
Trinidad and Tobago first participated in the Summer Olympic Games in 1948, before they attained their independence from Great Britain. Despite being a small nation in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago has been able to place themselves firmly in international sports. In 1946, Sir Lennox O’Reilly organized the nation’s first Olympic committee. Trinidad and Tobago have participated in sixteen Summer Olympiads and three Winter Olympics.
Jamaica competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States.
Keith Alvin Saint Hope Gardner was a Jamaican athlete who competed in the 110 metre hurdles, 100 metres, 200 metres, and 400 metres.
James Wedderburn was a Barbadian athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.
Malcolm A. E. "Mal" Spence was a Jamaican athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres. His twin brother Melville also competed in track and field. Malcolm died five years and two days after his brother.
George Ezekiel Kerr was a Jamaican athlete who competed in the 400 and 800 metres. He competed for the British West Indies at the 1960 Summer Olympics, where he won the bronze medal in the 800 metres. He then teamed up with Keith Gardner, Malcolm Spence and James Wedderburn to win the bronze medal in the 4×400 metres relay.
Michael George Raymond Agostini was a Trinidadian track and field athlete. He was the first athlete from his country to win a gold medal at what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, when he won the 100 yards final in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on 31 July 1954.
Since the early 20th century, Jamaica has won 42 Commonwealth Golds, 14 World Championship Golds and 17 Olympic gold medals in athletics alone. Jamaica has a population of 2.85 million people, making it the 138th most populous country in the world.
Clifton Bertrand was a Trinidadian sprinter.
The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The competition was held between September 3 and September 6, 1960. 59 competitors from 44 nations entered, but 54 competitors from 41 nations participated. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Otis Davis of the United States, the second consecutive and ninth overall title in the event for an American. Carl Kaufmann's silver was the second straight silver for a German in the event, while Malcolm Spence's bronze was the first medal for South Africa in the 400 metres since 1920.
Canada took part at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Cardiff,. With a total of 27 medals, Canada ranked tenth on the medal tally.
The men's 800 metres middle distance event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between August 31 and September 2. Fifty-one athletes from 35 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.
Wellesley K. Clayton is a Jamaican former long jumper who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics and in the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Basil Ince is a former sprinter from Trinidad and Tobago. At the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Ince represented Trinidad and Tobago in the 440 yards relay, the 440 yards and the 220 yards. He was most successful in the 440 yards, where he cames second in his heat before narrowly being eliminated in the quarterfinals.
The following year, Ince represented the British West Indies at the 1959 Pan American Games, participating in the 200 metres, 400 metres, and 4x400 metres relay. He won silver in the 400 metres, and took gold as part of the successful relay team.
The 1960 British West Indies Championships was the fourth edition of the track and field competition between British colony nations in the Caribbean. It was held in Kingston, Jamaica. A total of 31 events were contested, twenty-two by men and nine by women. The women's programme was extended with three throwing events. A new men's event was also included: the athletics pentathlon was the first and only time that a combined track and field event was contested at the completion.
The 1964 British West Indies Championships was the fifth edition of the track and field competition between British colony nations in the Caribbean. This marked the relaunching of the competition after a three-year break, during which the West Indies Federation had been dissolved. It was held in Kingston, Jamaica. A total of 25 events were contested, fifteen by men and ten by women. The 400 metres was added to the women's programme. The number of men's events was reduced, with the 10,000 metres, half marathon, pole vault and relay races all being dropped.
The 1965 British West Indies Championships was the sixth and final edition of the track and field competition between British colony nations in the Caribbean. It was held in Bridgetown, Barbados. The dissolution of the West Indies Federation, and the broader sports co-operation it had engendered, left the competition without the support to continue. A total of 28 events were contested, eighteen by men and ten by women. The men's half marathon, pole vault and relay races were all revived for this final edition, although the 3000 metres steeplechase was dropped. Jamaica was the most successful nation, taking seventeen of the titles on offer – it was Jamaica's fourth win at the competition and the only time a host nation did not top the medal table.
