THE 2011 staging of the prestigious Gibson Relays has been cancelled due to the delay in the completion of the track at the National Stadium in Kingston.

Chairman of the organising committee, Neville ‘Teddy’ McCook, confirmed yesterday that the decision has been taken to cancel the one-day relay carnival.

“Based on discussion with the general manager of Independence Park Limited, (Major Desmon Brown), and the time frame he gave for the completion of work at the Stadium (which) would be mid-March, that would make staging the Gibson Relays impossible,” said McCook.

The decision, he noted, was further delayed as they also awaited word from the Minister of Sport Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, who had said earlier the track should have been laid by the second week of February.

The meet has been held on the final Saturday of February since 1973, and this would be the fourth cancellation of the meet and first since 2002 when the ‘Stadium’ was being fixed for the staging of the IAAF World Junior Championships.

The delay in the arrival of equipment from Europe to be used in the relaying of the Mondo track is said to be caused by the exceptionally harsh winter conditions being experienced.

McCook described the cancellation of the meet as “a massive blow, not just for the local teams but for the many international teams that have been here and those who were planning to come here this year”.

McCook, who is also the president of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC), said: “The word has gotten out and people from as far as Colorado had already made plans to be here.”

The experienced athletics administrator went on to say that given that two major international global meets scheduled this year — the IAAF World Youth Championships in France in July and the IAAF World Championships in Daegu later on in August — this would have been a great way to kick off the track and field calendar.

Meanwhile, a number of local coaches have greeted the news of the cancellation with dismay.

Coaches of the reigning national high school champions, Wolmer’s Boys and Holmwood Technical girls, have said the absence of the meet would set back their preparations.

Wolmer’s’ David Riley said: “It will affect us negatively and we will now have to find alternate opportunities to participate in a meet of this type.”

Gibson Relays, he said, was a crucial meet for the gauging of where they were as a team leading up to Boys Champs.

Maurice Wilson, who was head coach of the Jamaica team to the Commonwealth Games last November and who conditions Holmwood Technical and GC Foster, said even more than the actual participation, what will be missing more “is the carnival-type atmosphere that we get with a Gibson Relays every year”.

He said his teams were “looking forward to the meet this year, especially the college team as we were expecting to make a statement”.

However, there might be an alternative on the February 26 date as Vere Technical’s Rahnsomn Edwards said a meet they have planned — the Ben Francis Invitational for February 12 — could be shifted to the 26th instead.

Edwards said they would miss the meet as well, as they use it as a “benchmark to see where we are as we get ready for Girls and Boys Champs”.

“Normally how we perform at Gibson gives us a good measuring stick to see how we do on the track at Champs,” he added.

Kingston College’s Michael Russell was mostly concerned with the younger athletes, especially the Class Four boys who did not run at Champs. “Gibson is their big meet, this is their Champs and if we are to look at their development, there must be a place for them to run,” he noted in a tone of concern.

The absence of the meet, he said, would “affect us big time (as) this is where we get to have our first real look at our teams and it will be a big blow to every one, not just KC”.

Calabar’s Michael Clarke said the biggest effect for his team was “the psychological preparation and the euphoria of the moment” as he did not really prepare his boys to win at Gibson.

“Based on your objectives, this might be a big meet or it might not be that big,” he said, but added that the relays did provide an opportunity for assessment of athletes.