The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It was smooth sailing for the return of quarter-miler Steven Gardiner, but past champions Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Donald Thomas along with Alonzo Russell and rookies Terrence Jones and Shakeem Hall-Smith all made an early exit at the World Championships.

The five athletes were the first of the Bahamas’ 11-member team to compete during the first weekend of the championships at the National Athletic Centre in Budapest, Hungary.

Gardiner advances to 400 metre semifinals

Returning after missing last year’s championships in Eugene, Oregon, Gardiner sped to victory yesterday in the first of six heats in a time of 44.65 seconds to hold off Japan’s Kentaro Sato, who produced a national record of 44.77.

The 27-year-old Gardiner advanced to today’s semifinals with the third fastest time overall.

Havard Bentdal Ingvaldsen ran a national record of 44.39 for Norway to post the fastest qualifying time, followed by Republic of South Africa’s world record holder Wayde van Niekerk in 44.57.

Gardiner, the reigning Olympic champion, won the world title in 2019 in Doha, Qatar in a Bahamian national record of 43.48. He has also qualified to compete in the 200 metres where he holds the national record of 19.75, but he will not be contesting the event at the championships.

Russell eliminated

Following on the heels of Gardiner’s successful run, Russell raced against Van Niekerk in the second heat and the 31-year-old Grand Bahamian could only muster a time of 46.95 for sixth place.

That put Russell 41st place overall in a field of 44 competitors as he missed the opportunity to join Gardiner in the semis. Russell had both a lifetime and season’s best of 44.73 that he recorded on April 15th in Gainesville, Florida, but he was well off the mark in Budapest.

Miller-Uibo’s motherly care

With her four-month old son, Maicel Uibo Jr in the stands watching, new mother Miller-Uibo couldn’t survive the comeback as a wildcard entry to defend her title in her 400m debut this year..

The 29-year-old Miller-Uibo ran a season’s best of 52.65 that was only good enough for seventh place in the third of the six heats of the women’s 400m on Sunday to get into the semis as she’s done so many times in the past.

Miller-Uibo, who lowered her Bahamian national record to 48.36 in winning the Olympic title in 2019 in Tokyo, Japan, only competed in the heptathlon during the Bahamas National Championships in July in preparation for the championships.

The fastest qualifier in the heats was Marileidy Poulino of the Dominican Republic in 49.90.

Thomas missed the cut

Thomas, the 39-year-old Grand Bahamian high jump champion,continued to ride the wave in getting back to the form that made him the world champion in Osaka, Japan in 2007, but he still can’t find the winning formula.

He finished in ninth place in Group A with a best of 7-feet, 4 1/2-inches or 2.25 metres that slipped him into a two-way tie for 16th place with Fernando Ferreira of Brazil in the two groups combined.

Three competitors - Ryoichi of Japan, American JuVaughn Harrison defending world and Olympic champion Mutaz Essa Barshim - cleared the same height of 7-5 3/4 (2.28m) to top the chart going into Tuesday’s final.

Jones out-sprinted

Despite the ups and downs he endured this season in his collegiate season for Texas Tech, Terrence Jones had to overcome a psychological effect from a provisional suspension by the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations that could have kept him out of Budapest.

But the BAAA rescinded on its decision in the lead up to the championships, allowing the 20-year-old Grand Bahamian to take his rightful place on the starting line in the heats of the men’s 100m.

However, on Saturday as the World Championships got underway in Budapest, Jones didn’t look like the sprinter who won the NCAA indoor championship 60 title and finished the outdoor championships as a third place finisher.

Left in his blocks in lane seven in the sixth of seventh heats, Jones didn’t have the turnover to reel in his rivals, ending up sixth in 10.32 for 42nd overall out of a field of 57 competitors.

He failed to make it back for the century showdown in the semifinal and the final that took place on Sunday, but can relish the season that saw him produce lifetime best times in both the 100 and 200n.

Coming off his NCAA indoor championship win in the 60m in 6.46 in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 11th, Jones clocked 9.91 to tie Derrick Atkins’ Bahamian national record in the 100m on April 15th in Gainesville, Florida and he clocked 19.87 for third at the NCAA Outdoor Championship on June 9 in Austin, Texas.

Hall-Smith’s debut fell short

In the last of the five heats of the men’s 400m hurdles, Hall-Smith’s time of 49.61 was seventh and one spot shy of advancing to the semis as he finished 29th overall.

Hall-Smith, 26, had a sensational season running both the 110 and 400m hurdles in Canada and the United States coming into the championships. He posted a lifetime best of 49.25 on July 14 to solidify his berth in Budapest.

Next for Team Bahamas

As a result of their developments over the weekend, no Bahamian will be in action today. But Gardiner will headline the list of competitors when he contests the semis of the men’s 400 and national champion and record holder Devynne Charlton will also be in action in the preliminaries of the women’s 100m hurdles.

Wednesday will be a busy day with the qualifying rounds for NCAA champion Rhema Otabor in the qualifying round of the women’s javelin;Charisma Taylor in the women’s triple jump; Commonwealth Games champion Laquan Nairn in the men’s long jump and veteran Anthonique Strachan in the women’s 200m.