The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sportas Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT’S a new venture in a new location and a new stadium by the International Amateur Athletic Federation and, from all indications, Anna Legnani and Stefan Thies could not be more happier with the progress they have seen as the inaugural World Relays draw nigh with about 50 days to go.

Legnani, the deputy director of media for the IAAF and Phies, the director of media for the Local Organizing Committee, are in town reviewing all of the upgrades to the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium ahead of the May 24-25 global relays.

The duo held a joint press conference with Keith Parker, chairman of the LOC, and ‘Golden Girl’ Tonique Williams, who serves as the deputy director of media.

“We’ve had very good cooperation with the whole local organising committee and in particular Tonique Williams and Stefan Thies, who is my director counterpart in the media services for the IAAF,” said Legnani, who is here on a double mission this week.

Thies, in town from Germany, said there are many details that they have to ensure are in place to pull off an event of this magnitude and they are here to check that all of the international requirements are in place.

“The event must have a Bahamian face because it is a promotion for the Bahamas and there are more than 130 check points that we go through step by step and line by line to make sure that everything is in place,” Thies stated.

“We start by making sure that the press tribune has all of the necessary technology and all of the requirements that the media need to get their job done,” he said. “They have to work on their udeadlines in their various time zones.

“We know that more than 50 countries have announced their participation here and so there are not just teams from this side of the ocean, but also from countries which are six and eight hours ahead of the Bahamian time zone, so we have to take into consideration the difficulties that these colleagues are facing.”

In preparation for the relays, the LOC has transformed a portion of the stadium near the finish line into a press tribune, which will allow the journalists to work in comfort with Wi-Fi connections on installed computer systems and televisions.

Bahamians will get a chance to see exactly how the media functions in other big international meets that the IAAF hosts like the World Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

“I’m definitely pleased with what I’ve seen,” said Legnani, the press liaison for the IAAF. “We are about 50 days away from the event, but all of the plans are up to the IAAF standard and we have some very high IAAF standards, so I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen and I’m very confident that it will work out.”

Here for his third inspection site visit, Thies said he’s optimistic that although there’s still a lot more work to be accomplished over the next 50 days, he’s delighted to work with Williams, whom he expects to take over his job for the second championship in 2015.

Williams, the 2004 Olympic Games and 2005 IAAF World champion, said the LOC has made a lot of progress over the last several months and everything is going to be up to IAAF world standard.

“There is a team in place and that team has been working very, very hard,” Williams said. “I think that the media will be very pleased to see the facilities that will be in place and some of the services that they will receive.”

Williams, however, said while the accreditation for the media opened since March 17, the request from the local media has been very low and she advised the various houses not to wait for the last minute.

“Request your media code at bahamasworldrelays.org to get your spot because I can assure you that the international media has already started to take advantage of their request,” Williams said.

And Parker said they have a large amount of persons working in all areas, but the media is one of the prime areas that the Bahamas is hoping to prove to the world that they are capable of hosting such a fantastic event.

“A lot of that depends on the service that we provide for the media,” Parker said. “I think we are very fortunate to have these three people here, including Tonique who is responsible for getting the word out to all of the local press.”

Parker said the media may have been inconvenienced in the past with the hosting of the CARIFTA Games last April at the stadium, but he said the IAAF has insisted that will all change with the relays and so far they are right on target to getting the job done.

Since the media accreditation service opened, Legnani said the international media have been making their inquiries and although it’s only a two-day meet, the numbers from around the world may not be as high as a World Championship, which takes about a week to be completed.

Last week, Legnani said she was in Jamaica for the first leg of the IAAF’s ‘Day in the Life of an Athlete Programme’ that they will be bringing here this week and the media is really looking forward to it.

As for the ticket sales, Parker said the Bahamian public has surprisingly been purchasing their tickets early, rather than waiting for the last minute.

“I think the $50 seats, the top seats being offered, are completely sold out,” he said. “I bought mine fortunately a couple weeks ago, but my son got left out. He checked on his a bit too late. But the good thing about this stadium, if you’ve watched the few events we’ve had here, the angle is great. For the relays you can have a good viewing of the event from any seat, including the general admission $5 seats.”

The programme of events, inclusive of the 4 x 100, 4 x 200, 4 x 400, 4 x 800 and 4 x 1,500 metres, will provide an opportunity for members of the public, wherever they sit in the stands, to get a good view of all of the excitement.

“Every seat in the stadium will allow you to see the various exchanges in the relays and you will be able to catch what you miss on the two gigantic televisions because of the huge amount of cameras that will be on display,” Parker said. “It’s just going to be fantastic.”

Ticket sales began on March 17 and, at this point, Parker said more than 6,000 seats have been purchased so far, so he has been impressed with the sales.

And, according to Thies, this historic event will be very significant as the top eight countries in both the men and women 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays will automatically qualify for the 2015 World Championships and during the 2015 edition of the World Relays, the top eight teams will qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games.

On top of that, the IAAF will be awarding its usual prize money for the top finishers, which is an added incentive to coming to the Bahamas for the sun, sand, sea and Bahamian hospitality.