Renny Quow, Keston Bledman, Gavyn Nero, Sade St Louis and Cadajah Spencer are among the Trinidad and Tobago athletes expected to be on show on the opening day of the Carifta Games, in Guadeloupe today.

Quow will defend his boys under-20 400 metres title. The Tobago quarter-miler is tipped for top honours in the event, but could be challenged for the top spot by Jamaicans Allodin Fothergill and Jair Francis.

Bledman is keen to add Carifta Games precious metal to the World Youth (under-18) Championship 100m bronze he earned in Morocco last year. The T&T sprinter, though, will need to be at his best to get among the medals in the boys under-20 100m dash. Jamaican Remaldo Rose is the favourite. His compatriot Yohan Blake, Bahamian Ryan Penn and 18-year-old Bledman are the other main contenders for the sprint crown.

Nero is expected to bid for the boys under-17 800m, 1,500m and 3,000m titles, in Guadeloupe. The major obstacles en route to triple gold for the reigning 3,000m champion-Donahue Williams, Conroy Crossman and Kenroy Campbell-will all wear Jamaica colours. The 1,500m will be contested today.

St Louis will be on show in the girls under-20 100m. Jamaican Schillonie Calvert is the sprinter to beat in the senior girls century.

And in the girls under-17 100m, T&T's Cadajah Spencer could be a contender for precious metal.

The opening round of the 800m events are likely to be run tomorrow. Jamaal James will fly the T&T flag in the boys under-20 category. The 2003 under-17 champion will renew rivalry with Theon O'Connor, the Jamaican athlete who beat him into second spot in the 2004 under-17 two-lap final.

James will go into the showdown full of confidence, following his fifth-place finish at the 2005 World Youth Championships in a personal best one minute, 50.31 seconds. O'Connor, though, is short neither on talent nor form. Last month, the Jamaican teenager clocked 1:50.44 to cop top spot at the Carifta trials, in Kingston.

Annie Alexander captured girls under-20 shot put gold last year, and should repeat in Guadeloupe. The T&T thrower would also be keen to improve on the silver she earned in the discus.