The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemeida.net

LONDON, England — Sitting in fourth place in the men’s triple jump final as he went through his fourth attempt, Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands’ knee gave up on him as he went through his skip, hop and jump phase.

The Olympic Stadium went into a frenzy for his safety as he awkwardly landed into the pit with his right leg extended from what appeared to be a dislocation of his knee. The medical personnel came over quickly, assessed his injury and carted him off on a stretcher.

As he left, Sands constantly held up his hand, indicating to the crowd that he was all right. He was done. His bid to duplicate another medal feat – coming in as the bronze medallist in Beijing, China in 2008 – came to a crashing end.

After receiving an evaluation in the medical centre at the stadium, Sands was whisked off to the poly clinic at the Games Village, accompanied by Team Bahamas’ chief medical officer Ricky Davis.

With his parents, Elaine and Leevan Sands Sr, along with his wife Danielle by his side, he was wheeled into the ambulance, again with his hand raised high, Sands assured this reporter: “It ain’t over Brent. I will be back. It ain’t over.”

He carried that spirit of pride through the gruelling pain he was encountering as the sequence of events were vividly replayed over and over on the two giant television screens at the 200 metres and finish line.

It was an unfortunate situation for an athlete who was poised to represent Team Bahamas and turn what had already been an array of misfortunes into a ray of hope for a medal or two, just two days before the athletic competition came to a close.

The national record holder who was preparing to celebrate with another medal on his 31st birthday on August 16 will probably have to undergo surgery to repair his knee, according to his father.

“He wanted it for the Bahamian people. He really doesn’t care about himself,” the elder Sands said. “He really didn’t care about himself.

When I saw it happen, it was like a dream just come to an end. I thought that his leg was broken at one point...I told him he will be all right because they have some good doctors over here. But I think he will have to do surgery because something separated in the knee area. I know him. He wanted it for the Bahamian people. He felt that he left the Bahamian people down, but I told him he will always be the hero.”

Chef de mission Roy Colebrooke, who visited Sands just before he was taken into the ambulance, informed the public that Sands told him that he was disappointed because he thought he let them down.

“This was the Olympics for him to win, but as we all could see, he was right in the midst of everything, so it was unfortunate what happened to him,” Colebrooke said. “They are going to take him over to the poly clinic, examine him and see what happens from there.”

Not that it mattered, but Sands was dropped to fifth place in the standings as American Christian Taylor took advantage of his departure by posting the winning leap of 17.81 metres on his fourth jump.

Another American, Will Claye, the bronze medallist in the long jump, took the silver with 17.82, while Fabrizio Donato of Italy got third with 17.48.

During a press conference after the event, Claye said Sands has been a mentor to him, so he was concerned when he saw what happened on the big screen.

“I’m definitely going to pray for him and hope that he comes back. I know he’s not done yet,” he said. “It’s terrible for that to happen to anybody in the competition. It kind of hit me when they showed it on the replay. He’s such a nice guy to have something like that happen to him. But I’m praying for him and I’m going to talk to him when we get back to the village. I just hope that everything is all right with him. It’s sad, but I’m praying for him.”