By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
DAY one of the 14th International Amateur Athletic Federation's World Championships didn't turn out as expected as neither long jumper Bianca 'BB' Stuart or sprinter Shavez Hart advanced in their respective events.
Stuart, the first member of the Bahamian team in action at the spectacular Luzhniki Grand Sports Stadium on Saturday evening, turned in a sub-par 6.35 metres or 20-feet, 10-inches for 12th place out of a field of 16 competitors in Group B.
However, she was 24th overall when they combined the two field of competitors. The top 12 performers, led by Great Britain's Shara Proctor with 6.85 (22-5 3/4) advanced to tonight's final. Eight of the qualifiers came out of Group A, led by Proctor, while the remaining four got out of Group B where Volha Sudarava of Bulgaria had the best mark of 6.71m (22-0 1/4).
Stuart said she had been hoping to make it to the final: "I was disappointed with the performance because I didn't want to let the Bahamas down. Every time I do it, I do it for the Bahamas, so I was hoping to make it to the final, but that wasn't the case. This was actual my season's worst. I was pretty consistent all season. So I'm just speechless."
In the men's 100 metres qualifying round, Hart ran 10.36 seconds for sixth
place in the third of seven heats. American Justin Gatlin won the heat
in 9.9, followed by Trinidad & Tobago's Keston Bledman in a season's best of 10.02. Great Britain's Dwain Chambers was third in 10.14.
Hart, making his debut at the world global meet, finished 36th overall out of a field of 55 competitors who competed, but he was not able to advance to tonight's semifinal.
"I tried to run a god race, but the start was what caused it," said
Hart, who ran a PB of 10.18 to qualify to compete here. "I tried to
block out the crowd, but it was a good race. It was competitive. For a first experience, this was good."
The Bahamas will now prepare for the following athletes in action tomorrow:
Men's 400 metres Qualifying
11:05 am - Heat 1, Lane 6 - Ramon Miller.
11:21 am - Heat 3, Lane 4 - LaToy Williams.
11:29 am - Heat 4, Lane 5 - Chris Brown.
Women's 100 metres Qualifying
12:09 pm - Heat 3, Lane 5 - Cache Armbrister.
12:30 pm - Heat 6, Lane 2 - Sheniqua Ferguson.
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