Dexter Lee is one of the most exciting sprint prospects to come out of Jamaica since Usain Bolt and is a double gold winner at World Youth Level. Photo: Provided

Ashley Kelly will be running in the 200 and 400m at the BVI Twilight Invitational and will be up against Karene King in the 200 as well as Chantel Malone in the 400. Photo: Charlie E. Jackson/VINO

Kineke Alexander runs in the Twilight 400 and is a double Olympian having been the flag bearer for St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2008 and 2012. Photo: Provided

Veteran Kim Collins will be back in the Territory to compete in the 100m against Lee and has stated his goal this season is to run faster than ever before. Photo: Provided

In the women’s 100m, for example, Tahesia Harrigan-Scott will be under starter’s orders with the USVI’s Laverne Jones Ferrette, but also in the lineup is Karene King who has been steadily increasing her speed to a point where an upset can’t be discounted.

King is just the fourth BVI athlete to be invited to the Puerto Rico Grand Prix when she competes in Ponce this weekend where she will continue her path to qualification for the World Championships.

In fact, the wind robbed her of a qualifying time in the 200m just this past weekend and at the Invitational she will line up against Ashley Kelly who ran 23.09 to King's 23.15 at the same meet in Claremont, Florida to also be robbed of a qualifying time.

The pair will face a tough challenge of their sprint credentials from the likes of Jamaican Simone Facey who has a personal best of 22.25. Facey, who prefers the 100m, finished 2^nd in the Pan Am games in 2011.

Kelly will run against Chantel Malone in the 400 with Vincentian Kineke Alexander, who competed in the 400m event at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the flag bearer for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at the 2008 opening ceremony and the 2012 opening ceremony. “The Meet is important to me because it allows the fellow teammates and I a chance to perform in front of our home country,” stated Kelly.

“It is a great feeling to represent such a small country and to have support from everyone, so it is an even better feeling to compete at home in front of our biggest supporters. This meet will give the community a sense of pride by watching us perform, increase awareness and publicity to the sport of track and field."

At the London 2012 Olympics, Kineke competed in the First Round of the Women's 400m but she didn't finish.

The Men’s 100m is also fast becoming a sprint showdown between veteran world champion Kim Collins and the up and coming Dexter Lee of Jamaica, who is also running in Puerto Rico this weekend.

A poor start at the Chris Brown Invitational in the Bahamas saw him run an opening 10.23 seconds, but he looked strong running the second leg on the Jamaican team that was second to the USA at the Penn Relays a couple of weeks ago.

More recently Lee said a new personal best and a sub-10-second time at the Jamaica International Invitational are his immediate goals. “We have to run under 10 seconds to have any chance to make any Jamaican men’s team and it appears it will take 9.80 seconds even to make the team,” he said.

Lee is also the first runner to have won back-to-back titles at World Junior Championships when he won the 100 metres in 2008 and 2010. 

Kim Collins is celebrating his 19th year on the international athletics circuit but he still has an appetite for the big occasion and will be competing at the IAAF Diamond League series this year as well as the BVI Twilight Invitational. Now 37, the popular sprinter from St Kitts and Nevis made his international debut in 1995 when competing for his country’s 4x100m Relay team at the IAAF World Championships.

Eight years later, Collins was crowned the World 100m champion in Edmonton.

His stated aim this year is to run fast and faster than he has run before! Which means sub 10 zero.

The Junior events are also an unbelievable chance to witness some re-matches from Carfita glory days with local athletes such as Nelda Huggins, Lakeisha Warner, the Gumbs' sisters and Eldred Henry given the chance to show their fans some live performances against the best of the rest.

“We have this year’s Carifta winner against last year’s Carifta winner in the Javelin,” commented Willis Todman. “The girl from Dominica who beat Nelda Huggins in Carifta last year will be coming and possibly Natalya Whyte from Jamaica too.”

Speaking on behalf of the Twilight Committee, Steve Augustine said he hoped that the crowds would come out in their hundreds if not thousands to support the event, which is the first of its kind to be held in the BVI and also what he hopes is the first of many.

He also said that the meet will inspire future generations of athletes and with the lineup confirmed so far no one can doubt that ambition.

Athletes from Anguilla, Barbados, Canada, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St Kitts, Jamaica, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, USVI, USA and Trinidad will be on show. Spectators are being asked just $10 entrance fee, which the organisers say will be reinvested back into the sport.