The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Today, the Bahamas Olympic Committee will not only name the team to represent the Bahamas at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, but one of those athletes is expected to be competing at the Meeting Areva in Paris, France.

While the BOC has been tight-lipped with the final selection before they release the names today, it has been rumoured that the team will feature about 23 athletes and eight coaches.

The BOC has ratified the team that the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations has submitted based on their qualifying performances and those who were added for the men’s 4 x 400 and women’s 4 x 100 meter relays.

The BAAA had originally looked at having all four relay teams qualified, but both the men’s 4 x 1 and the women’s 4 x 4 failed to finish in the top 16 in the final listing posted by the International Amateur Athletic Federation after the July 1 deadline on Monday.

The men’s 4 x 4 ended up in the No.8 spot, while the women’s 4 x 1 just barely got in with the 15th spot.

Out of the number of athletes who will be named to the team, everybody has qualified for their individual event, except for the few who were added for the relay duties.

Today, as the BOC announces the team, some of those athletes will be competing in Paris.

Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands, a bronze medallist in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, will be entered in his specialty in the men’s triple jump. He will be matched against some formidable opponents in Jadel Gregorio of Brasil and Cubans David Girat and Alexis Copell.

The Samsung Diamond League encompasses 32 individual event disciplines, with a points scoring ‘Diamond Race’ which runs throughout the 14-meeting series.

Winners of each Diamond race will get a Diamond trophy and a cash prize  but, more importantly, will have shown season-long consistency to earn the unchallenged honour of being the World No 1.

The meet comes just ahead of the Meeting Madrid 2012 that is slated to take place on Saturday.

Following the meets, the athletes will be gearing up for the Olympics that is set to run July 27 to August 12.

The Bahamas will be represented by the track and field team and a one-woman swim team – Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace – the lone athlete who has qualified to compete in the women’s 50 and 100 freestyle events.