Donna Raynor, the Bermuda National Athletics Association president, is starting to get an “overwhelming feeling” as the first group of athletes arrived at the airport ahead of tomorrow’s first Bermuda Invitational Permit Meet.

Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, the sports minister, and Pat Phillip-Fairn, from the Bermuda Tourism Authority, joined Raynor at the airport to welcome the athletes.

More arrived on the late flights yesterday evening and the rest will fly in today.

“We are two days away from the meet and we are definitely getting excited,” Raynor said. “Up until to today we still had athletes e-mailing us telling us they are coming, arriving or want to come and it’s getting bigger than we anticipated.

“I’m feeling overwhelmed and I’m seeing people here who I didn’t even know were coming. I’m really excited that this is all coming together because this time last week we had 17 confirmations and we were quite nervous and had sleepless nights.”

The weather forecast is for the northerly winds to ease by Friday evening, just in time for the meet.

“We don’t want to have a repeat of Carifta 2012 when we had freezing weather, so I’m sure someone upstairs is looking after us and that we will have a beautiful night on Friday,” Raynor said.

The sports minister extended a Bermuda welcome to the athletes and is also looking forward to an exciting meet. “It’s very important for the athletes coming in to know that they are welcome and that they will be embraced,” she said.

“We want to welcome each and every one of you on behalf of the Government and people of Bermuda. We know we’re going to have a successful meet. To have the calibre of athletes coming for this meet is something that’s absolutely sensational and the BNAA needs to be applauded for the effort it has put in.”

The BTA has partnered with the BNAA to make the meet a reality. “This is just one of the manifestations of the sports tourism strategy and we’re just delighted that Bermuda has managed to attract so many top calibre athletes, it’s fantastic,” Phillip-Fairn said.

“It’s another way for us to introduce another generation of people to Bermuda, through sports, and it’s wonderful for us to see this happening. We’re looking forward to Friday, it’s going to be great.”

Saniel Atkinson-Grier of Jamaica is one of the four athletes who will compete in the high jump, along with Bermuda’s Sakari Famous, Tynita Butts of the United States and Canada’s Emma Kimoto who won last year’s National Championships.

“I’m excited to be here, I came down in 2012 to participate in the Olympic trials,” Atkinson-Grier said. “I love Bermuda, almost as much as I love Jamaica. I have heard of [Sakari] so I’m excited to have another high jumper out there to add to our group of women’s high jumpers in the Caribbean.

“We’re sneaking up on the Europeans, slowly but surely.”

Atkinson-Grier has a personal best of 1.89 metres while Butts, the NACAC Under-23 champion, has jumped 1.93. Kimoto recorded her personal best jump of 1.85 in Bermuda last year.

“I just cleared 1.85 last week so I’m working on getting into the 1.90s,” added Atkinson-Grier, a 2013 graduate from the University of Georgia.

Sidiki White of Jamaica will compete in the 800 alongside Bermuda’s Aaron Evans in a strong field of ten competitions. White has a personal best of 1.47.32.

“I’m very happy to be here, my first time and it’s a beautiful place,” White said. “What attracted me in coming here was the field that I’m a part of, a lot of guys who have hit or want to go below the Olympic standard so I know it’s going to be a really fast race and I’m very excited about that.

“That’s my main goal is to be able to run the Olympic standard. My training has been great, my coach thinks I’m ready so I’m very confident about being able to perform well.”

One of the first things Latoy Williams of Bahamas did while waiting outside the arrival hall was to take a selfie photograph. Williams, who has a personal best of 44.73sec, will be up against three Jamaicans in the 400.

“I’m ready,” he said.

Michael Hartfield of the United States, a Diamond League winner with a best jump of 8.42 metres, is also ready. The mention of Bermudian long jumper Tyrone Smith, brought a smile to his face.

“That’s my boy, that’s why I’m here,” Hartfield said. “In my first meet overseas, when I came out of college, he was the big brother type of guy who told me about the circuits.

“We’ve been friends for some time and have competed against each other quite a few times.”

Fourteen more athletes were scheduled to arrive last night on the flights from Miami and New York, including Bermudian Aaron Evans on the Miami flight. The rest of the athletes fly in today, Smith among them. Tre Houston and Shianne Smith arrived this week.

Two relays races involving local primary boys and middle school girls have been added to the schedule as there will be no 1500 men’s race. Instead there will be two men’s 110 metres hurdle heats, the first which starts the meet at 6.30 with the men’s long jump.