The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THERE has been much debate about whether or not it was right for athletes to skip the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations' Scotiabank National Open Track and Field Championships at Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium over the weekend.

What's wrong with the submission of a doctor's slip to be exempted from competing?

You miss a day or two from work, deliberately or unintentionally, when you return you submit a doctor's report. There's no further examination to verify whether or not you were actually ill or you just took time off to travel overseas or to goof around town.

Over the years, the BAAA opened itself up to scrutiny when it allowed athletes to get out of competing in the Nationals if they are injured and can produce a medical report.

So why is there so much drama over the absence of some of the elite sprinters - both male and female - who opted not to compete, even though some of them showed up at the stadium in civilian clothing.

Yes, it was the final trials for athletes wishing to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. No, it wasn't a case like the US trials where the top three finishers were automatically named to the American team.

So in essence, athletes still have to attain either the A or B standard, depending on how many competitors are trying out, in order to secure their spots on the team.

In the case of the A standard, once one athlete achieves the feat, two other athletes can be selected, pending their ability to also surpass the same mark. As for the B standard, athletes will only be allowed to make the team, if there are no A qualifiers in their own. In that case, only one athlete can qualify at the B standard.

So what's all the fuss about?

Either you make the A or B standard, depending on the amount of athletes in your event, or you won't be able to travel to the Olympics.

The only exception is those athletes who have been added for relay duties. For those athletes, they must compete in the Nationals. Until we reach the stage where you have no choice but to compete and finish in the top three to book your spot on the team, the Bahamian public will always be short-changed of not seeing all of the top athletes coming home for the one major meet, despite the fact that the BAAA constantly claims that it's mandatory for all athletes to compete.

It doesn't matter to the athletes, many of whom are on government subvention, if they submit their reports a month, a week, a day or an hour before the Nationals get underway.

Once there's that clause in the BAAA rules that they have to provide a medical report to be exempted, athletes will continue to skip the Nationals, leaving fans disappointed for not seeing all of the elite athletes before they go off to the major international meets.

Take into consideration that many of these athletes are based in the US and hardly any of them compete in any other meet held during the year. For the average fan, you can understand why they are peeved when they show up for the two days of competition, spend their money and are not given value for their dollar.

Then there's the sponsors who fork out big bucks to ensure that the BAAA puts on a high calibre of competition for the fans to enjoy and the athletes have no problem coming home to entertain everybody before they head off to face the rest of the world.

There's only one way to avoid any further disappointment and that is to make it mandatory, whether they have attained the qualifying standards or not, for athletes to compete in the Nationals.

But there will always be the argument and athletes have complained that there's no way they would jeopardise their future by competing if they are hurt.

That could easily be rectified.

The BAAA has its own doctor on hand to examine all athletes who are in some discomfort and make the assessment, prior to the start of the Nationals, whether they are fit or not to compete.

It's so disheartening to see asterisks behind athletes' names after the Nationals, indicating that they will have to prove their fitness in order to compete at the international meet, although they are named to the team.

Either you are selected to compete or you are not. You can't have your cake and eat it too, so to speak.

The Nationals is the biggest meet held in the country and the fans and the sponsors all look forward to assisting the BAAA with their financial contributions.