The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the inaugural International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) World Relays just a day away from getting underway at the newly refurbished Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, teams have been busy going through their final adjustments in their line-ups.

On Thursday on the adjacent practice track at the original TAR Stadium, teams from France, Russia, the United States of America and Nigeria were all enthused about being in the Bahamas and competing on Saturday and Sunday on the new state-of-the-art underfoot: Mondo’s Super X 72- track, which has received the Class 1 certification by the IAAF.

France

Head coach Renaud Longuevre said France will be represented in both the men’s and women’s 4 x 100, 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 metre relays as well as the women’s 4 x 800m.

“The atmosphere is great. Many French athletes come from the Caribbean like Guadeloupe and Martinique, so they like to come in this area and have competed at the CARIFTA Games, so we are excited,” Longuevre said. “The weather is very beautiful here, so we are really looking forward to the meet.”

France will be looking for their men’s 4 x 100m team, featuring Jimmy Vicaut, who just ran the third fastest time this year of 9.95 seconds in the 100m on May 18 in Aix-les-Bains and Christophe Lemaitre, who did 20.30 in the 200m at the same meet.

“Both are in really good shape, so they are leading the 4 x 100 and Christophe will be in the 4 x 200. In the women, we have Eloyse Lesueur, the IAAF World Indoor long jump champion, who will be competing with a very young team. We also have a strong women’s 4 x 4. So we are looking for some things.”

Longuevre said this is a great idea by the IAAF to put on the relays because it’s an event that takes the spotlight of the individual athletes and allows them to compete together as a team, “so it’s very good in athletics to keep the team spirit” and hopefully they will use it to rise the level of competition.

Akakpo Stella, a member of the women’s 4 x 100m team, said while this is her first trip to the Bahamas, she has been very pleased with the hospitality of the Bahamian people from her arrival at the Lynden Pindling International Airport to their hotel accommodations.

“The stadium here is very good, the training is going and I’m having a great time,” she said. “It’s a little bit early for Team France, but it’s an experience for us to get ready for the rest of the season.”

Russia

Representing Russia will be teams in the men’s and women’s 4 x 400 and the women’s 4 800m, according to 400m specialist Yelena Zuykevich. “This is the first time here, but I feel this is a wonderful place,” said Zuykevich. 

She admitted that it’s too early in the season, so their team is not as strong as they would like, but they will be very competitive. “I think we will be in the finals,” she said. “The conditions and the weather is great. We don’t know what to expect in the new stadium, but I think it will be good for us.”

USA

Two-time Olympic and World Championship 4 x 100m relay team member Dennis Mitchell, whose first trip here was to compete as a junior, is back in familiar territory, but this time as the head coach for the United States of America’s 55-member team.

“We have a good mixture of vets and younger athletes and they mesh very well. They’ve worked very hard this week and they are eager to get onto the track and represent the USA in the best way they can,” said Mitchell, who also won an individual bronze medal in the 100m in both the Olympics and the World Championships.

While he admits that they have some business to take care of against Jamaica in both the men’s and women’s 4 x 100 and the Bahamas in the men’s 4 x 400m relays, Mitchell said the main thing they want to stress to their athletes is to be prepared to perform at a very high standard.

“If we work on the things that we need to work on, then we will be very difficult to beat,” he said. “If we go out there, not focused and make too many mistakes, then we make ourselves vulnerable to get beat. Given respect to the Jamaicans and the Bahamian teams, we are going to step out there and compete.”

Although he’s not running, Mitchell said he regrets the fact that the IAAF didn’t see the vision to institute this event at the time that he was competing.

“It’s always fun to run the relays,” he said. “As a professional athlete, you look forward to