The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

She was so close, but hurdler Devynne Charlton was denied a spot on the podium for her first major global medal and now it’s left up to sprinter Anthonique Strachan to get it done at the World Championships.

On another bizzare day of competition on day six of the championships yesterday, Charlton got out to a great start, but flattered down the stretch as she slipped to fourth place in the final of the women’s 100 metres hurdles.

And Strachan, who celebrated her 30th birthday on Tuesday, will have the last chance of the 11-member Bahamian team to keep the streak of winning at least one medal alive at the championships after she came through in the nick of time to book her ticket to the last final.

Charlton fourth

After surging out front over the first three sets of the 10 flights of the hurdles, Charlton felt she was on course to finally pull off the global medal on the senior circuit that had eluded her.

Danielle Williams, running on the inside in lane two and former world record holder Kendra Harrison, in lane four, pulled ahead from there. As they cleared the final three hurdles, Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from lane seven surged past Charlton in lane six.

When it was all said and done, Williams powered through the line for the gold in a season’s best of 12.43 seconds, followed by Camacho-Quinn with the silver in 12.44 just ahead of Harrison, who held on for the bronze in 12.46.

That left Charlton trailing through the medallists in fourth in 12.52 as she clapped her hands in disappointment, realising that her chance to finally get on the podium slipped away again.

Last year in Eugene, Oregon, she had to settle for seventh place, but after lowering her Bahamian national record to 12.44 for the second fastest qualifying time in the first round and turning in the third fastest time of 12.49 in the semifinal, Charlton felt this was the year for her to achieve the medal feat.

Strachan into final

In the second of three semifinal races, Strachan came off the curve outside of contention for a spot, but she was able to negotiate her comeback for third place in 22.30.

It wasn’t enough to catch NCAA champion Julien Alfred from St Lucia, who crossed the finish line in 22.17 and Great Britain’s Daryll Neiter, who got second in a personal best of 22.21.

That put Strachan into the waiting room to determine who would get the final two fastest losing times to round out the field for the final. As it turned out, she got the eighth and final spot in the final today.

Now, as the final Bahamian left to compete for The Bahamas, Strachan had drawn lane three, sandwiched between Marie-Josée Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast in two and Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain in four. The rest of the field was Neita in five, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson in six, Alfred in seven and Americans Gabrielle Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson in eight.

INJURY UPDATE

After pulling up coming off the curve in the semifinal of the men’s 400m on Tuesday, Steven Gardiner’s manager Claude Bryan, the chief executive officer of On Track Management, Inc, revealed that they requested permission from the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations for Gardiner to leave the team headquarters to see a specialist for further assessment and treatment.

He noted that Bahamas team doctor Keir Miller has been monitoring Gardiner’s progress and is abreast with all plans.

“Personally I wish to say thanks and express how impressed and pleased I have been with the team Bahamas from president (Drumeco) Archer to V.P. (Foster) Dorsett, NACAC president Michael Sands, Dr Miller, Dr Johnson, Pharez Cooper and team manager Laketah Charlton,” Bryan said. “Their support of Stevie at this time has exceeded the admirable.”

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games’ champion LaQuan Nairn, who pulled up and was unable to complete the qualifying round in the men’s long jump on Wednesday, is okay.

On Thursday, Tito Moss, the team’s assistant manager and track coach, revealed that Nairn is in fine shape and in good spirits.

“I spoke to LaQuan, and he is in great spirits. He is trusting his Saviour through this,” Moss said. “He just got back from the hospital doing some imaging and, so far, it is not as bad as first thought.”

NO RELAY TEAMS

The championships will come to a close on Sunday, but the Bahamas will not have any teams represented in either the men’s or women’s 4 x 100 and/or 4 x 400 metre relays.