Women's Review

On the women's side World champion Trecia Smith of Jamaica had an excellent 2006 year, in spite of her failure to expectedly match her career best in the Triple Jump, following a superb season leading up to the campaign.

The Jamaican, who won the world title in Helsinki, Finland, in 2005, started the season with a fourth place finish at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Moscow, Russia, in early March and followed up that performance with a solid gold medal effort at the Commonwealth Games ten days later.

Smith leaped a national record of 14.84m and missed winning a bronze medal in the Russian capital, but made light weight of her competitions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia to win the Commonwealth crown.

She also won at the Jamaica International (14.34m) before copping a season's best, 15.05m to win in the Helsinki GE Money Grand Prix.

Cuba's Yargelis Savigne too had a notable season, achieving two personal bests during the indoor season, 14.72m for 5th in the Triple Jump at the world indoors and 6.63m in the Long Jump in Lievin.

Other major achievers in the female category in 2006 where Laverne Eve from Bahamas and Jamaican Olivia McKoy, who copped silver and bronze in Melbourne, Jamaica's Elva Goulbourne (6.82m LJ), Cuban Sonia Bisset and Osleidys Menéndez, who despite being well below their normal standards where still able to finish amongst the top ranks in their respective events.

Men's Review

It was a quieter affair on the male side as the region failed to grab a medal globally, even with arguably two of the world's best long jumpers.

James Beckford of Jamaica and Cuba's multi-global champion Iván Pedroso, struggling with injury worries again, had a dismal year in the long jump and maybe now looking to be beyond their glory days.

A low standard 7.78m and 7.27m from Beckford and Pedroso, respectively, saw them both making an early exit at the world indoor championships, which adds to their early departure disappointments at the world championships in 2005.

Rising Cuban star Víctor Moya finished fourth in the men's high jump at the world indoor championships, behind Russian Yaroslav Rybakov, with a personal best clearance of 2.30m, which bettered his previous mark of 2.23m.

He, however, must be little disappointed as he was seen as a strong medal favourite, after his heroic late season burst to take a silver at the world outdoor championships and gold at the World Athletics Final in 2005.