The 1997 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico between 26–28 June.

Medal summary

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres (wind: +1.4 m/s)	Luis Pérez  Cuba	10.28	Jason Shelton  Jamaica	10.29	Carlos Villaseñor  Mexico	10.46
200 metres (wind: +1.9 m/s)	Iván García  Cuba	20.38 CR	Elston Cawley  Jamaica	20.85	Troy Douglas  Bermuda	20.88
400 metres	Danny McFarlane  Jamaica	45.47	Linval Laird  Jamaica	45.49	Dennis Darling  Bahamas	46.05
800 metres	Norberto Téllez  Cuba	1:47.78	Mario Watson  Jamaica	1:47.86	Alex Morgan  Jamaica	1:48.57
1500 metres	Héctor Torres  Mexico	3:47.23	José López  Venezuela	3:47.92	Terrance Armstrong  Bermuda	3:51.92
5000 metres	Herder Vásquez  Colombia	14:07.41	Víctor Rodríguez  Mexico	14:08.77	Juan Díaz  Venezuela	14:22.01
10,000 metres	Herder Vásquez  Colombia	30:21.94	Jacinto López  Colombia	30:24.21	Germán Beltrán  Venezuela	30:27.94
Half marathon	Víctor Rodríguez  Mexico	1:07:07	Carlos Grisales  Colombia	1:07:39	Pamenos Ballantyne  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1:08:25
110 metres hurdles (wind: +3.0 m/s)	Erik Batte  Cuba	13.70w	Yoel Hernández  Cuba	13.74w	Maurice Wignall  Jamaica	13.78w
400 metres hurdles	Dinsdale Morgan  Jamaica	49.28	Kemel Thompson  Jamaica	49.77	José Pérez  Cuba	50.92
3000 metres steeplechase	Félix Ladera  Venezuela	8:48.85	Salvador Miranda  Mexico	8:50.29	Néstor Nieves  Venezuela	8:50.46
4 × 100 metres relay	Cuba Alfredo García-Baró Ivan García Luis Alberto Pérez-Rionda Misael Ortiz	39.18	Jamaica Elston Cawley Jason Shelton Garth Robinson Jermaine Melbourne	39.7	Bahamas Dennis Darling Craig Hepburn Andrew Tynes Addis Huyler	39.85
4 × 400 metres relay	Jamaica Garth Robinson Linval Laird Dennis Blake Danny McFarlane	3:01.42 CR	Cuba Omar Mena Jorge Crusellas Edel Hevia Norberto Téllez	3:04.50	Bahamas Dennis Darling Avard Moncur Addis Huyler Demarius Cash	3:09.15
20,000 m track walk	Julio Martínez  Guatemala	1:26:24.40 CR	Querubín Moreno  Colombia	1:28:38.96	Alejandro López  Mexico	1:29:08.00
High jump	Gilmar Mayo  Colombia	2.25	Julio Luciano  Dominican Republic	2.15	Fred Valentin  Martinique	2.10
Pole vault	Alberto Manzano  Cuba	5.40	Edgar Díaz  Puerto Rico	5.30	Jorge Tienda  Mexico	4.90
Long jump	Iván Pedroso  Cuba	8.54 w +4.0 m/s	Jaime Jefferson  Cuba	8.01 w +5.2 m/s	Craig Hepburn  Bahamas	7.93 w
Triple jump	Jérôme Romain  Dominica	17.53w	Yoel García  Cuba	17.28w	Brian Wellman  Bermuda	17.03w
Shot put	Yojer Medina  Venezuela	18.11	José Rosario  Puerto Rico	17.49	Yosvany Obregón  Cuba	17.16
Discus throw	Alexis Elizalde  Cuba	64.28	Jean-Claude Retel  Guadeloupe	58.18	Frank Casañas  Cuba	55.32
Hammer throw	Alberto Sánchez  Cuba	72.10	Yosvany Suárez  Cuba	69.90	Guillermo Guzmán  Mexico	67.10
Javelin throw	Emetrio González  Cuba	81.66 CR	Isbel Luaces  Cuba	73.80	Daniel Alonzo  Dominican Republic	65.80
Decathlon	Eugenio Balanqué  Cuba	7633	William Gallardo  Cuba	6973	Eladio Farfán  Venezuela	5818

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres (wind: +1.4 m/s)	Debbie Ferguson  Bahamas	11.29	Beverly Grant  Jamaica	11.31	Heather Samuel  Antigua and Barbuda	11.38
200 metres (wind: +1.9 m/s)	Idalmis Bonne  Cuba	23.24	Felipa Palacios  Colombia	23.36	Heather Samuel  Antigua and Barbuda	23.73
400 metres	Julia Duporty  Cuba	51.96	Idalmis Bonne  Cuba	52.01	Tonique Williams  Bahamas	52.38
800 metres	Ana Fidelia Quirot  Cuba	1:59.01 CR	Mairelín Fuentes  Cuba	2:03.36	Dawn Williams-Sewer  Dominica	2:03.60
1500 metres	Ana Fidelia Quirot  Cuba	4:18.00 CR	Mardrea Hyman  Jamaica	4:21.31	Yesenia Centeno  Cuba	4:23.72
5000 metres	Susana A. Díaz  Mexico	16:31.87 CR	Sonia Betancourt  Mexico	17:02.95	Evelyn Rojas  Costa Rica	17:48.59
10,000 metres	Stella Castro  Colombia	34:34.67	Iglandini González  Colombia	37:06.50	Elsa Monterroso  Guatemala	36:57.30
Half marathon	Stella Castro  Colombia	1:17:15	Iglandini González  Colombia	1:22:06	Maribel Burgos  Puerto Rico	1:24:43
100 metres hurdles (wind: +0.9 m/s)	Aliuska López  Cuba	13.19	Patrina Allen  Jamaica	13.26	Andrea Blackett  Barbados	13.44
400 metres hurdles	Andrea Blackett  Barbados	55.64 CR	Daimí Pernía  Cuba	56.14	Tanya Jarrett  Jamaica	57.73
4 × 100 metres relay	Bahamas Eldece Clarke-Lewis Debbie Ferguson Tonique Williams Dewana Wright	44.00 CR	Colombia Mirtha Brock Felipa Palacios Patricia Rodríguez Sandra Borrero	44.29	Cuba Idalia Hechavarría Dainelky Pérez Daimí Pernía Yahumara Neyra	44.73
4 × 400 metres relay	Cuba Idalmis Bonne Julia Duporty Odalmis Limonta Nancy McLeon	3:29.30	Jamaica Michelle Ballentine Charmaine Howell Nadia Graham-Hutchinson Cecile Cargill	3:32.28	Puerto Rico Militza Castro Xiomara Davila Sandra Moya Yamelis Ortiz	3:39.07
10000 m track walk	Graciela Mendoza  Mexico	47:43.99	Oslaidis Cruz  Cuba	48:32.09t	Liliana Bermeo  Colombia	48:50.27
High jump	Niurka Lussón  Cuba	1.81	Karen Beautle  Jamaica	1.81	Romary Rifka  Mexico	1.79
Pole vault	Eva Vázquez  Puerto Rico	3.25 CR	Lorena Espinoza  Mexico	3.25	Estrella Martínez  Mexico	2.50
Long jump	Nadine Caster  Martinique	6.56	Jackie Edwards  Bahamas	6.52	Elisa Pérez  Dominican Republic	6.28
Triple jump	Olga Cepero  Cuba	14.14w	Yamilé Aldama  Cuba	14.12w	Cherita Howard  Barbados	12.94w
Shot put	Herminia Fernández  Cuba	17.36	Christelle Bornil  Martinique	15.10	María Mercedes  Dominican Republic	13.38
Discus throw	Bárbara Hechevarría  Cuba	57.42	Maritza Martén  Cuba	57.06	Christelle Bornil  Martinique	47.32
Hammer throw	María Eugenia Villamizar  Colombia	53.82 CR	Nancy Guillén  El Salvador	52.98	Violeta Guzmán  Mexico	52.70
Javelin throw	Osleidys Menéndez  Cuba	63.08	Laverne Eve  Bahamas	58.16	Sabina Moya  Colombia	55.94
Heptathlon	Zorobabelia Córdoba  Colombia	5503	Lisa Wright  Jamaica	5491	Osiris Pedroso  Cuba	5210

Medal table

  *   Host nation (Puerto Rico)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Cuba (CUB)	22	13	6	41
2	Colombia (COL)	7	7	2	16
3	Mexico (MEX)	4	4	7	15
4	Jamaica (JAM)	3	12	3	18
5	Bahamas (BAH)	2	2	4	8
6	Venezuela (VEN)	2	1	4	7
7	Puerto Rico (PUR)*	1	2	2	5
8	Martinique (MTQ)	1	1	2	4
9	Barbados (BAR)	1	0	3	4
10	Dominica (DMA)	1	0	1	2
	Guatemala (GUA)	1	0	1	2
12	Dominican Republic (DOM)	0	1	3	4
13	El Salvador (ESA)	0	1	0	1
	Guadeloupe (GLP)	0	1	0	1
15	Bermuda (BER)	0	0	3	3
16	Antigua and Barbuda (ATG)	0	0	2	2
17	Costa Rica (CRC)	0	0	1	1
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN)	0	0	1	1
Totals (18 entries)		45	45	45	135