The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

LONDON, England — Quarter miler Shaunae Miller and sprinter Anthonique Strachan have been on a world junior course that has them both now stepping out to achieve even greater feats on the senior level.

They both started to excel around the same time at St Augustine’s College and Club Monica Track Club under the supervision of coach Dianne Woodside. They then went on to excel at the Carifta Games.

Over the last two years, Miller emerged as the back-to-back IAAF World Junior and World Youth Championships women’s 400 metre champion, a feat that has never been accomplished before. This year, in her bid to regain her title at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, Miller fell short with a fourth place finish.

At the same meet, Strachan took the spotlight when she posted the women’s 100 and 200 sprint double, becoming only the second athlete to do so behind Jamaican sensation Veronica Campbell-Brown.

While they are both making their Olympic debut, Strachan reached another pinnacle when she participated at the IAAF World Championships last year in Daegu, South Korea.

As the Olympics is the highest level of competition in sports in the world, the duo are eager to make their full transition from the junior to the senior level.

“It’s been great so far,” said Miller about making her Olympic debut. “I’m just glad to be able to come down here and to represent my country. I’m looking forward to the games. I’ve been excited about competing at the games ever since I was a kid. Everything is going great so far.”

Although it’s a great honour to be called an ‘Olympian,’ Strachan said she’s not going to let it get to her head because she has a mammoth task ahead of her.

“I guess it hasn’t hit me yet, so I’m not going to focus on it,” she said. “To everybody else, it’s a big thing because I know it’s hard to make it to the Olympics. You have to work hard consistently every four years and track and field is a competitive sport. Only the best made it here, so I guess by being here, I am considered one of the best athletes in the world. So it’s exciting, but the shock of the Olympic Games has not hit me yet.”

Neither has she allowed the double thrill of victory in Barcelona to deter her from what she came here for. She noted that the Worlds was her final appearance as a junior and she wanted to leave her legacy behind for those who follow in her footsteps.

“With this being my last junior meet, I just wanted to leave with a greater exit than I had when I entered,” Strachan said. “The games was really tough because it’s not designed for anyone to win the double and so it was good to come out with the two gold medals, the PBs (personal best times) and a championship record in the 200. It’s just sad that our team-mate (Grand Bahamian) Rashan (Brown) pulled up and we didn’t get to finish the 4 x 100. I just wish her the best in her recovery.”

Strachan clearly remembered how she slipped and tumbled during the second exchange on the women’s 4 x 100 relay last year at the World Championships in Daegu with Grand Bahamian Nivea Smith. She managed to get up and still passed the baton off to Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie on anchor, but it was too late, The rest of the field had already gone. Strachan spent the next several weeks recuperating from the injuries she sustained to her face, arm and leg.

“Anything could happen,” she said. “So I’m glad that I got that experience because it made me a much better athlete. Hopefully I can go through the rounds here and prove that I’ve matured and in a much better position to deal with any circumstances that come her way.

“I just want to leave it all up in God’s hands,” she said. “I’ve done the work to get here and now I just have to go out there and perform one round at a time.”

For Miller, just hanging around the Games Village with the elite athletes from around the world has put her on a different plateau.

“The seniors are really looking out for us as the younger members of the team, so I really appreciate that,” Miller said. “The atmosphere here has been a little more than I expected, but I’m looking forward to everything that comes with it.”

Looking back at her experience in Barcelona, Miller said she knows that the competition will be extremely tough in London, but she’s just going to “have some fun” and enjoy every moment of it.

“The competition in Barcelona was much stiffer this year,” Miller said. “I went out there and I tried my best. Hopefully the experience will help me when I go out and compete here.”

Both Strachan and Miller are just delighted to be reunited again.

“The other day she (Miller) was looking at some pictures on Facebook from our last World Juniors and she was saying how we were so young and innocent. I mean, I’m still young and innocent,” said Strachan.

Miller noted that she could only reflect on the fun days that they both enjoyed together in the past.

“We had some good days in high school, so reuniting with her in our first big major international meet on the senior level is just fantastic,” Miller stated,

And from one junior champion to another, Miller had nothing but praise for Strachan and her latest feat at the World Juniors.

“I’m extremely proud of her,” she stressed. “She did a very good job, she is focused and I expect nothing but the best from here at these games.”

Male quarter milers Demetrius Pinder and Chris Brown delivered their accolades to the two rising young stars as they welcomed them to the big leagues.

“It’s always good to see young, I can’t even say young because I’m young myself, but it’s good to see the way they have been performing over the last few years and now they get to test themselves against the best in the world,” Pinder noted.

“I think it’s a good thing for the younger ones at home with a dream to make it here, they can look at the performances of these two girls and aspire to be just like them and even all of the athletes on this team.”

Pinder, however, said it’s a “freak of nature” to watch the younger athletes run close to the times that the elite athletes are doing.

And Brown, who never really had the kind of productive junior career as the duo, said he was impressed with their performance.

“Their goal was to medal and even though only one of them did it this year, they both made it to the final, which is an accomplishment in itself,” Brown said. “A lot of people in other countries who medal and even had the potential to medal are not here at the Olympics, so to have both of them here shows that the hard work and dedication pays off, so we welcome them with open arms and hope for the best.”