The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net Team manager Roosevelt Thompson said Team Bahamas has settled in comfortably and is looking forward to the start of competition at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. The three-day championships is scheduled to open today with defending champion Chris 'Fireman' Brown and Grand Bahamian Demetrius Pinder racing in the heats of the men's 400 metres. "Everybody is excited and ready to go," Thompson said. "We had our first meeting on Wednesday. It was encouraging to feel the vibe in the room. After me and Mr Keith Parker (coach) spoke, I asked Chris to say a few words to the group. He was well received. I think we all look up to him and Chandra (Sturrup) as the senior persons on the team." After going over the events that each of the nine athletes will be contesting during the championships, Thompson said they closed out the meeting with a time of prayer. "We know that we can't achieve anything without prayers," he said. "We are asking the Bahamas to cover us in prayers." Thompson noted that it's very close in Istanbul with the weather between the 30s and 40s. He added, however, that the athletes are all prepared. By the time you read this, both Brown and Pinder would have already competed in the preliminaries of the men's 400. Pinder, who turned 23 on February 13, ran out of lane six in the first of the six heats. He had the fastest time this year of the six competitors he faced in 45.40 seconds. Included in his heat was Tabarie Henry of the British Virgin Islands, who ran out of lane three. Henry has posted a season's best of 46.88. Brown, who turns 34 on October 15, was in lane five. He had the second fastest time this year in his heat in 46.17. American Calvin Smith, running out of lane six, had the fastest time of 45.73. The first two in each heat automatically qualified and the next six fastest times advanced to the semifinal that will also be ran as the final event to close out today's action. The final won't be staged until Saturday during the morning session, which would mean that Brown and or Pinder could have double duties as they join the combo of Michael Mathieu, La'Sean Pickstock and Jameison Strachan for the preliminaries of the men's 4 x 400 relay. The relay final will conclude the championships on Sunday. Also on Saturday, Sturrup will contest the preliminaries of the women's 60m in the morning session. Both the semifinal and final are scheduled for Sunday evening. And both Donald Thomas and Trevor Barry are expected to compete in the preliminaries of the men's high jump, along with Bianca Stuart in the prelims of the women's long jump. The final of both the high jump and the long jump is slated for Sunday.