Arantxa King leapt to the gold medal in the under-20 CAC Games triple jump final on Friday in Trinidad ? the day the head of local athletics? governing body thought she was to board a flight for Colombia.

While Bermuda?s junior athletes were performing admirably in the Caribbean last week ? securing a total of five medals including two gold ? back at home confusion reigned at the Bermuda Track and Field Association.

When asked yesterday why the the Island?s top athlete was competing at the junior CACs ? having originally been named as part of the senior squad heading to the adult version in Cartagena, Colombia ? BTFA president Clarence Smith admitted he ?did not know?.

A five-person team for the senior Games was named last month, and on Thursday Smith told that number had been reduced to four because of long-jumper Latroya Darrell?s decision to compete at the junior version instead.

It has now become clear, however, that only two athletes ? sprinter Akila King and 800 metre runner Michael Donawa ? made the trip to South America while Arantxa King and high jumper Deon Brangman went to Trinidad instead.

Asked why this happened and who had made the decision to make the swap, Smith said again he had no idea ? adding that there would be a meeting of the BTFA executive this evening in order to ?sort all this stuff out?.

?I have not got everything together at the moment and I will be able to fill you in after our meeting,? said Smith, who took over at the helm of the BTFA in March from Judy Simmons.

?I do not know exactly what happened ? I?m in the process of trying to find out. Once we?ve had our meeting and are able to talk through the various issues, I will be in a much better position to comment.?

Queried over whether it had been national coach Gerry Swan?s call to take King to the junior event, Smith insisted that ?it was not his decision? ? although he was unable to explain why he as president of the BTFA had not known until late last week that she had ultimately been picked in the junior squad.

Meanwhile, King?s gold-medal winning effort of 12.84 metres would have placed her fifth in the last senior CAC Games in El Salvador ? an impressive achievement given that she is better known for her long-jumping ability.

Darrell ensured there were two Bermudians on the winners podium with a best jump of 12.29 metres to take bronze, while she added to her medal tally in the under-20 girls? high jump by leaping 1.73 metres and earning a silver.

Elsewhere, Jasmine Brunson ? daughter of Shadow Sports Minister John Brunson ? claimed gold in the under-17 girls? long jump with a leap of 5.56 metres while Matthew Spring took silver in the under-17 boys? 1500 metres.

Spring, Aaron Evans and King were all due to compete in finals last night, although the results were not through by press time.

Diver Katura Horton-Perinchief placed eighth in the CAC Games one metre springboard final in Colombia yesterday.

The Olympian and head diving coach at George Washington University said last night that given how badly her last-minute practice had gone in Cartagena, she was ?very happy? with her final position and will now start preparing for the three metre springboard competition on Wednesday.

?The weather here is extremely overcast and when the sky and the water are the same colour it makes it hard because there is no sense of depth,? she said.

?But I felt I performed well in the circumstances because there are some world-class divers in the Concacaf region, so to come eighth was a real plus for me.?

In squash, meanwhile, Bermuda number three Michael Shrubb was on the cusp of victory in his first round singles match against Robert Fernandes of Guyana ? racing into a two game to love lead.

However, the youngster suddenly ran out of gas when 4-0 up in the third game and ultimately lost the match in five ? 9-7, 9-3, 7-9, 2-9, 2-9.

World number 72 Nick Kyme played his first round match against Barbados number one Shaun Simpson after press time last night, but was expected to make it through to at least the quarter-finals.