The

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics The Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championships is an international track and field athletics event organised by the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CACAC). Only athletes representing a member nation of the confede ...

were held at the Estadio Pedro Grajales in Cali, Colombia between 4–6 July

. A total of 44 events were contested, of which 22 by male and 22 by female athletes. During the three-day competition, six championship records were broken. The competition took place at almost 1000 m above sea level, a factor which helps athletic performance in some events.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

took the most medals overall, winning 34 medals – half of which were gold. The hosts Colombia were the next best with 8 golds and 24 medals altogether, shortly followed by

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. Guest athletes took part in some events, but their performances were excluded from the medal tally.Results service Campeonato CAC de Atletismo 2008
. AthleCAC. Retrieved on 2010-03-09. Championship records were broken in both

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

events; by

Mabel Gay Mabel Gay Tamayo (born 5 May 1983 in Santiago de Cuba) is a Cuban triple jumper. Her personal best jump is 14.67 metres, achieved in September 2011 in Daegu. Personal bests Outdoor *Long jump: 6.28 m – Rio de Janeiro, 17 May 2009 *Trip ...

in the women's event and

Leevan Sands Leevan Sands (born August 16, 1981 Nassau) is a Bahamian triple jumper. His personal best jump is 17.59 metres, achieved in 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This is the current Bahamian record and won a bronze medal. He also won bronze medals ...

in the men's. The championships also saw four

national records National Records was a record label that was started in New York City by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted until early 1951. Big Joe Turner was signed at the beginning and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as w ...

broken in competition. Two athletes topped the podium twice: Rosibel García completed the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

double, while

Indira Terrero Indira Terrero Letuce (born 29 November 1985) is a Spanish sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. Earlier she represented her native Cuba. Career Her personal best time is 51.00 seconds, achieved in May 2007 in Havana. Personal best Outd ...

won in the 400 metres sprint and relay races.

Bertha Sánchez Bertha Oliva Sánchez Rivera (born November 4, 1978) is a female long-distance runner from Colombia, who won several medals on continental level from the mid-1990s on. Career She has won twice at the South American Cross Country Championships ...

, representing the hosts, took the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

title, but just missed out on a second gold, winning the silver in the 5000 metres. Bahamian

Shamar Sands Shamar Sands (born 30 April 1985) is a Bahamian track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 metres hurdles. He is the Bahamian national record holder in the event with 13.40 seconds.Nakamura, Ken (2009-05-09)‘07 World champs Warin ...

showed multi-event ability by winning the

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hu ...

gold medal, as well as helping his country to the 100 m relay silver medal.

Records

Medal summary

Men

* † The 20 km racewalk event was won by

Jefferson Pérez Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quezada (born 1 July 1974) is an Ecuadorian retired race walker. He specialized in the 20 km event, in which he won the first two medals his country achieved in the Olympic Games. He won the gold medal at the 199 ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, who was competing as a guest athlete.

Women

* †† A

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian team of Rosemar Coelho Neto, Lucimar de Moura, Thaissa Presti and Franciela Krasucki took third place in the 4×100 m relay, but they were competing as guest athletes. * ††† A

ian team of Maria Laura Almirão,

Lucimar Teodoro Lucimar Teodoro (born 1 May 1981) is a Brazilian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres sprint and the 400 metres hurdles. Teodoro was born in Guararapes, São Paulo and began competing in senior athletics in 2001. She attended ...

, Josiane Tito and Emmily Pinheiro took second place in the 4×400 m relay, but they were competing as guest athletes.

Medal table

Participating nations

* (3) * (1) * (34) * (10) * (6) ** (8) * (2) * (7) ** (2) * (54) * (1) * (41) * (7) * (27) ** (1) * (5) * (11) * (4) * (6) * (2) * (17) * (26) * (1) * (3) * (2) * (24) * (4) * (10) * (4) * (5) * (27) * (6) * (22) * Guest nations

References

Results service Campeonato CAC de Atletismo 2008
AthleCAC. Retrieved on 2010-03-09. ;Specific

External links

Official website
{{Central American and Caribbean Championships Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics

Central American and Caribbean Championships The Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championships is an international track and field athletics event organised by the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CACAC). Only athletes representing a member nation of the confede ...

International athletics competitions hosted by Colombia