The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MEMBER of Parliament for Mount Moriah Arnold Forbes’s only regret is that he never got to compete in the Olympic Games.

The former high jumper from Government High School Magics is still living out his dream as he’s attending his first games in London with his family, including his wife, Ainssa and children Aaron and Amaia.

However, he’s been following the Bahamian team at a number of the International Amateur Athletic Federation’s World Championships, so he’s kept abreast of the competition.

“I expect us to win a few medals. I expect us to be there with the big boys,” he told The Tribune at the games in London.

“We’ve been there to these games for quite a while and have competed with the best of them, so I don’t see if any differently. We have the calibre of athletes to compete with anyone in the world. But I’m very happy that we have a number of young athletes who are competing for their first time like Anthonique Strachan - getting the experience.

“So while we’re here to build for the future, we’re also here to win medals. We want to make sure that in Brazil in 2018, we are still there and we’re still on the world stage at a high level.”

Forbes, a lawyer and a successful businessman, said while he didn’t get to compete in the Olympics, he’s quite aware of what it takes to excel at this level of competition and that is why he’s in London to support Team Bahamas.

“I believe that we need to have more people here supporting the team, especially when we see people like Jamaica, our neighbours, who are here en masse” he said. “We need to be supporting our athletes. We need to make plans, not a year before, but four years in advance so that we can have a huge contingent in Brazil. So if we start planning two and three years out, we can have the kind of contingent that I see Jamaica have here. I expect to see thousands of Jamaicans in the stands, not just from those who live here, but those who made the trip here to support their athletes. That is why they are so successful.”

Forbes said he’s predicting that these will be a successful Olympics with the Bahamas winning about three medals.

“We will get one in the Men’s 4 x 400 Relay, one in the Men’s High Jump and another in the Men’s 400m,” he said.

As a former high jumper, who stopped competing in 1984 with a personal best of 6-feet, 8-inches, Forbes said he’s been in awe of the magnificent performances that have been turned in by high jumpers Donald Thomas and Trevor Barry.

“It’s not common that any country will have two world class high jumpers who at any given moment, can win a medal,” he said. “When you look at Donald Thomas, he was a high champion and Trevor Barry won a medal at the World Championships too. That is the same calibre of competition that they will meet here, but I’m confident that they will be successful, one or the other, or both.”