ST. GEORGE (DA) — Curaçao closed the 2026 CARIFTA Games with four medals — one gold, one silver and two bronze — after Quenten Kopra, Rivka Goede, Zsa-Zsa Frans and Niaviv Matrona all reached the podium during the three-day meet in Grenada.
Kopra delivered Curaçao’s top finish by winning gold in the boys U17 high jump on Sunday. The 16-year-old cleared 1.90 meters to take the title after going over 1.80, 1.85 and 1.90 on his first attempt at each height.
Goede added a silver medal in the girls U20 long jump, also on Sunday. She posted a best leap of 5.80 meters, finishing behind Belize’s Brooklyn Lyttle, who won with 6.16 meters, and ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Seannah Parsons, who took bronze with 5.76.
On the final day, Frans secured bronze in the girls heptathlon with 4,191 points, while Jurivienska Koster finished just off the podium in fourth with 4,151.
Frans stayed in medal position through all seven disciplines. She ran 14.36 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, cleared 1.50 meters in the high jump, threw 9.05 meters in the shot put, clocked 26.40 in the 200 meters, jumped 4.90 in the long jump, reached 26.64 in the javelin and ran 2:49.63 in the 800 meters.
Koster also stayed in the hunt from start to finish. She ran 15.23 in the 100-meter hurdles, cleared 1.53 in the high jump, threw 7.51 in the shot put, clocked 26.03 in the 200 meters, jumped 5.25 in the long jump, threw 20.91 in the javelin and ran 2:38.72 in the 800.
Matrona claimed Curaçao’s second bronze of the meet in the girls U17 javelin with a best throw of 41.52 meters. Jahdrienne Mercera finished sixth in the same final with 35.00.
Sharifa Fernandes de Faria added another strong placing for Curaçao by finishing fourth in the girls U17 100-meter hurdles final in 14.11 seconds, while Sdewey Zhuang placed seventh in the boys U20 110-meter hurdles final in 14.26.
Earlier in the meet, Angely Curiel finished fourth in the girls U20 javelin with 42.04 meters and Bradley Bonevacia took sixth in the boys U17 javelin with 50.62.
Curaçao’s medal haul and finals results gave the athletics team a strong overall showing at Kirani James Athletic Stadium, highlighted by a high jump title, a long jump silver, a heptathlon bronze and another podium finish in the javelin.