All the success Jamaica reaps at the Carifta Games and other junior athletics meets annually is not by accident ? it?s by design.

The man behind that design ? the architect of success, if you will ? is chairman of that country?s Youth Development Programme, Alfred Francis, who has been spearheading the track and field initiative since its rejuvenation in 2002 when the athletics World Junior Championships were held in Jamaica.

Few could have been more pleased than him on Easter weekend when the Caribbean nation dominated yet another Carifta meet, snagging a record high 79 medals ? 37 gold, 23 silver and 19 bronze ? here in Bermuda.

?Our team performance was excellent. We?re very pleased. We have a lot of good kids, many of them were very young and it was their first time at the Games. So a lot of them will be in the same class next year so more than likely you can look forward to a stronger Jamaican team,? said Francis, reflecting on the three-day classic.

Citing the ?passion which Jamaican kids have for track and field? as the catalyst for the constant stream of quality athletes, he noted it started with the intense schools rivalry which has long been a hallmark of track and field in that island.

?That creates an avenue for excellence because these kids train from September to March. Those who compete only for their schools do at least six months of track and field a year and those who compete for Jamaica do at least nine months.?

When it comes to Carifta, however, the pressure is even greater as every Jamaican Carifta squad wants to exceed the performances of their predecessors.

?We exert that pressure on ourselves. When it comes to these Games, the thing is to try to outdo yourself.

?Setting a goal to achieve a greater medal count than at the previous Carifta Games is what creates that excellence.?

Based on what he saw in Bermuda, Francis thinks the ?standard of athletes in the Caribbean has improved? with countries which previously won no or few medals ?stepping up to the plate?.

?It speaks well about track and field in the Caribbean but I must say, when it comes to the hosting of a Games, I doubt if anybody can raise the bar to Bermuda?s level, he observed, commending Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) for a top-notch job.

?We have to thank (BTFA president) Judith Simmons and her organising team. They did a fantastic job.

?The treatment in Bermuda and the organisation were first class. The hospitality was second to none anywhere we have been in the Caribbean. As (IAAF Vice President) Dr. Amadeo Francis said, it was the best Carifta Games ever.?

The best Games ever deserved, as Dr. Francis declared last Sunday, matching performances and, while these were in no short supply, it was Usain Bolt?s awesome power in the Under-20 Boys 200-metre final which will forever be etched in spectators? memories.

The 17-year-old Jamaican wonder whizzed to a new junior world record of 19.93 seconds in his pet event.

?He continues to bewilder. Where will it end? It?s like deep space, you know. He keeps getting better and better,? acknowledged Francis, predicting even more magnificence for the track titan.

?Where he is at right now, I don?t think he has peaked because he has not fully embarked on his speed work programme. I expect him to run faster at the World Juniors. I think 19.7 seconds is a possibility at the World Juniors in July.?

The athletics administrator has even more lofty expectations for Bolt?s Olympic debut.

?I think he can run 19.6 at the Olympics if pressed. I don?t think there will be anybody to press him at World Juniors but I figure there will be keener competition at the Olympics and if he remains healthy there?s no telling what he can do,? he said of the teenager whose surname lends itself to witty headlines.

Others whom he expects to light up track-and-field?s billboards internationally include Schilloni Calvert who won the Under-17 Girls sprint double, Under-17 Boys? long and triple jump gold medallist Robert Peddlar and Kimberly Williams who broke her own record in the Under-17 Girls triple jump. There is also the amazing Wilbert Walker who competed simultaneously in the Open heptathlon and the Under-20 Boys long jump, mining gold and silver respectively.

?He is really something else. He is a tower of strength. He could carry the whole team. I look forward to him going to World Juniors to participate in the long jump. I feel he can jump eight metres.

?He is an extraordinary person. The same time he was in the long jump final he went and did the 200 metres for the heptathlon which I think is phenomenal,? noted Francis of the versatile competitor.

These are but a handful of the talented Jamaicans benefiting from Youth Development Programme which is financially buttressed by Government, the Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) and the island?s corporate community.

Outlining the Youth Development Programme, its chairman explained it comes into full gear at this time of the year when Jamaica selects a squad of about 80 young athletes for meets like Carifta, the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Juniors and the World Junior Championships.

?We embark on a camp environment where we take them in initially from Fridays to Sundays every weekend.

?We have track and field training. We look at media skills, social skills, hygiene and health in general. We have defined study periods where they get assistance in various subjects.?

There is also strict attention to dietary and supplement requirements.

Athletes in this programme have time trials every weekend at which their performances are recorded and compared to assess their development. Depending on progress and attitude, some recruits might be axed while others could be added.

Prior to be invited into the Junior Development Programme, Jamaica?s young athletes are under the care of their school or individual coaches as they build towards the annual crescendo of junior athletics (their inter-schools sports) in March: the much-heralded Girls and Boys Championships.

?A lot of the schools don?t pay the coaches after the championships therefore our programme is critical at that time to take them and keep them in shape leading up to the various games that we have.

?Our programme gets in full swing after they come back from Penn Relays which a lot of them will be going off to next week (this week). We get in full swing from then and this programme continues until World Juniors.

?Some of the special ones will obviously go on to the Olympics. That?s in August. The others who don?t go on to Olympics will get a break for a month or two and start again in September when we have road racing which they use for their background training ? a lot 5Ks and 10Ks.

?I run that programme also and it gives them the conditioning up until January and from January there is a track meet every weekend until Carifta,? said Francis, elaborating on their athletics operation.

Carifta selectees, he noted, come into a camp for a few days just before leaving for the Easter meet but they are usually already well set because their respective schools have them in rigorous training for the Girls and Boys Championships.