The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Even though it wasn’t the type of Olympic performance that she anticipated, sprinter Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie said she’s not looking forward to retiring any time soon.

She just wants to set that record straight.

The 36-year-old, however, had a lot more on her mind and she used an interview with The Tribune yesterday to express her true feelings on the whole London Olympic Games earlier this month.

“I always look at things differently - the good, bad and the ugly - there’s always something to learn from it,” she said. “This is the one thing at the Olympics that I didn’t make it out of the first round. From my first Olympics in 1996, I made it to the semifinal in the 100 and consecutively after that, I made the final in both the 100 and 200.

“Not being able to make the final, it was a bit of a disappointment, but the worst that could have happened was for me not to be at the Olympics in general because looking back at it, from May 5, I wasn’t able to train because of a bone bruise. But I had to remind myself that as competitive as I was, after being off for three months, technically you’re out of shape.”

If there was any consolation that Ferguson-McKenzie could take away from the trip to London was the fact that she ended up running 11.32 seconds, leaving her with the notion that she was blessed to have been in a position to compete the way she did under the circumstances.

Looking back at it in its totality, Ferguson-McKenzie admitted that her fifth appearance at the four yearly games was certainly different from what she experienced in her debut in Atlanta in 1996, 2000 in Sydney, Australia, 2004 in Athens, Greece and 2008 in Beijing, China.

“I’m very glad that the ‘Golden Knights’ saved our Olympics, but it’s unfortunate what happened to Leevan Sands because he would have medalled in my opinion,” she said. “But there are some other downsides from the administrative side that I wasn’t too happy with.

“I think it’s something that needs to be addressed in detail. I’m not trying to bring down anyone, but if we don’t correct it, then who is going to correct it. Silence gives consent and I’m definitely not in consciousness with what went down. We have the youngsters like Anthonique Strachan coming up and so we have to make sure that the path is smooth and clear from them and the others to follow.”

Not trying to be disgruntled or anything, but Ferguson-McKenzie said for the first time she has traveled, there was no team meeting held, except for when they distributed the uniforms to each of the athletes.

“I just feel that either it’s an excuse of ignorance or somebody just didn’t care, but it wasn’t acceptable,” she stated.

According to Ferguson-McKenzie, there were coaches on the team that didn’t pass on the information to the athletes, for whatever reason.

“At team meetings, you build the camaraderie with your team-mates, but we didn’t have one,” she said. “The information that was supposed to be passed on to the athletes was not passed on. These were information that the athletes needed, especially considering the relays.

“Some of that information caused us from not getting into the women’s 4 x 100 relay final. You can’t afford for stuff like that to happen because this is the highest level of competition that you will get. The coaches there did well, but I think some of them thought they were at the Carifta level, but this is not Carifta. This is the highest you will get. This is the Olympic Games.”

There was also a major issue with the uniforms.

Ferguson-McKenzie said Team Bahamas’ sponsor Adidas provided uniforms for this year’s team, but they received uniforms that were about four years old, or they were not the correct size.

“For instance, Christine Amertil got a men’s size large or we got tights that were not the right size,” she said. “A lot of things went wrong that should not have gone wrong. Athletes are there to perform and not have to worry about stuff like that. Those things could have been avoided.”

As for her absence from the heats on the women’s 4 x 100 relay team, Ferguson-McKenzie said coach Henry Rolle said he got some information from one of the therapists, who was not properly informed about her injury.

“From one mis-informed information to another, he as a coach, based that decision, which he was technically correct, even though the decision was wrong,” she stated. “I think that information basically caused the women’s 4 x 100 from not making the final.

“The proof was in the pudding. Yes, I ran 11.32, but even with a bad start, that was faster than everybody else on the team, except for Anthonique Strachan. Plus I have the experience,” she said. “So I think when he was advised about the whole bone injury, he thought I couldn’t run anymore.

“But they were mis-advised because I ran the 100 and I ran the 200. Nothing was going to get worse. I was running on it. I was able to compete for the last two rounds in the 4 x 1 heats and the finals. However, he was misinformed and decided not to run me for whatever reason and it cost us.”

The team of Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson, Chandra Sturrup, Christine Amertil and Anthonique Strachan ran a season’s best of 43.07 seconds for sixth place in their heat and ended up tied with Poland for the ninth spot overall. Ferguson-McKenzie said she definitely felt she could have made a difference in the team’s outcome.

Now that the games are over, Ferguson-McKenzie said she has been hearing the noise in the market that she should consider retirement.

“But like Chandra always says, it’s one of those things where I’m definitely not going to end my season on this note,” she said. “Considering that I feel there’s something still left, I’m going to try and leave on a better note than this. Next year, there’s the World Championships, even though it’s in Russia and everybody’s been holding their heads.

“But my main goal right now is to get healthy and to get this bone bruise properly healed so I can start training again. I think for me at this point, I just want to keep everything low keyed and come back and surprise some people at next year’s World Championships. I want to heal first and then try to get back into training as soon as possible.”

In the meantime, Ferguson-McKenzie will enjoy her time at home before she’s back on the road again.

From September 6-9, she is scheduled to head to Brussells for the IAAF Athletes Commission Meeting. Although her time is up as an athletes’ representative, Ferguson-McKenzie said because of how vocal she is, her fellow athletes from around the world have been encouraging her to continue.

“I don’t have a problem helping out,” she said. “They’re lacking people who want to help out, so I don’t mind.”

At the meeting, Ferguson-McKenzie said she hopes that the IAAF will re-consider their stance on the one false start and an athlete is eliminated from further competition. She said her aim is to get the IAAF to at least re-consider it for the Olympics because athletes have to train so hard just to compete in the games every four years to have it all go down the drain on a false start.

“I think I did it once. That was in Monte Carlo, but that wasn’t at a major championship,” she said. “I felt it was one of those times when I was next to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and as experienced as you are, that nerve takes over. I came back and I regained my composure and I got second with Veronica (Campbell-Brown) getting third.

“That should tell you. I totally believe that athletes need a chance.”

Ferguson-McKenzie, the 200 bronze medallist in the 2008 Olympics, said all of the competitors that produced medal-winning performances in London were the ones who “showed up to compete.” She said she just wished that she was in better health to contend with them.

Likewise, after watching the American team of Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter shatter the women’s 4 x 100 relay world record in a time of 40.82 ahead of Jamaica’s team of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sherone Simpson, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kerron Stewart’s national record of 41.41, Ferguson-McKenzie said it would have been even more exciting if the Bahamas was a part of the race.

But all things considered, Ferguson-McKenzie said this is going to be an Olympic experience that she has to put behind her as she prepares for the continuation of her long and illustrious track career.