Teams from the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Haiti and the United States Virgin Islands could participate in this year's Gibson Relays.

Chairman of the Relays, Neville 'Teddy' McCook, revealed at yesterday's sponsors' luncheon at the Courtleigh Hotel that these countries have shown an interest in coming here in a bid to gain relay qualifying times for the 2007 IAAF World Championships set for August 25 to September 2 in Osaka, Japan. Only the countries with the top 16 sprint relay times will be invited to run at the World Championships.

The eight championships relays will, as usual, be the headline events at the February 24 meet. Winners of these relays will receive commemorative watches.

Sponsors

The Art Printery, Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB), and Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) will be the respective sponsors for the three top sprint relays - the Class One boys, U-19 girls' and men's institutions 4x100m.

Port Authority will sponsor the 4x400m Open for institutions men while the high school girls' 4x400m Open will be sponsored by Jamaica Biscuit Company and the boys' 4x400m Open by Security Administrators. Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) is the sponsor of the high school boys' 4x800m Open while Western Union will sponsor the high school girls' 4x800m Open.

Meanwhile, Andre Largie, brand manager of Gatorade at Pepsi-Cola Jamaica, announced that his company will be rewarding record breakers with cash incentives.

"In recognition of ... The remarkable performances that we produce in spite of great hardships, Gatorade has decided to provide an incentive to all participants of the Gibson Relays for continuing our heritage of athletic excellence," he said at yesterday's luncheon. That incentive will be the Gatorade record breakers prize.

"This prize will be in the amount of $250,000 and will be shared by the athletes and schools that break any existing Gibson Relay record," Largie said.

Fourteen records were broken in 2006, 12 in 2005 and 10 in 2004, but the longest-existing record is 45.5 seconds for the men's 400m Open. The mark was set in 1984 by Olympian Bertland Cameron.