The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE era of the Golden Girls maybe over, but retired sprinter turned coach Chandra Sturrup does not mind reliving the memories.

At age 42, Sturrup and three of her four team-mates – Councilwoman Pauline Davis-Thompson, Debbie Ferguson and Eldece Clarke – are expected to be highlighted this weekend as the Bahamas plays host to the International Amateur Athletic Federation’s inaugural World Relays at the newly refurbished Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

It’s not certain if Sevatheda Fynes, the other member of the Bahamas’ gold medal 4 x 100 metre relay team from the 1999 World Championships in Seville, Spain and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, will be able to make the trek home. Fynes currently lives in the United States with her family.

“It’s bittersweet. I almost forget what the process was,” said Sturrup in an interview at the Meli� Hotel, one of the sites of the Games Village. “It’s a great event and I’m very excited that it’s being hosted in the Bahamas. I hope we can pull it off and hopefully have another big event in the Bahamas.”

Although it’s been more than a decade – 14 years to be exact – since they shocked the world with their back-to-back feat, one can barely talk about athletics in the Bahamas and not mention the Golden Girls. Sturrup said she’s even been asked if she and the others are still competing.

“It’s always exciting to know that people are still remembering you and remember your accomplishments. That’s an appreciation that they have for us,” said Sturrup, who was known for having one of the quickest starts in the world. “It’s good to be appreciated too.

“But coming back home and not being a part of the actual competition, it felt like an eerie feeling, but it feels good to be able to walk and not have something over your head and you have to focus on to get ready for competition. It’s a feeling that I have to get used too.”

When asked about the word retirement, Sturrup said it’s more than she expected.

“It’s good. It’s stressful at times because I have a lot going on,” said Sturrup, who is trying to balance her time between completing her art studies and coaching a high school track team. “It’s a lot different because all I used to do was train, compete, relax with no stress. Now I have to worry about everything.”

In Raleigh, North Carolina where she lives, Sturrup is a month away from completing her studies in Fashion Design at the Arts Institute. To get her mind off not competing anymore, Sturrup has turned to coaching at Whitfield High School. But she said it’s hard to get the competitive juice out of her system.

“I don’t know. I know I don’t miss training,” said Sturrup when asked if she missed competing.

“Yeah, I guess I miss it a little, going back over the memories that we had.”

In addition to the relays, Sturrup held her own claim to fame by dominating at both the 60m indoors and the 100m outdoors where her name is listed as an individual medalist at the World Championships, the Pan American Games, the Central American and Caribbean Games, the CAC Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the World Indoors, the Continental Cup, the CAC Junior Championships and the CARIFTA Games.

The only event she has failed to capture a personal medal is at the Olympics, but the relay gold in 2000 and the silver in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996 more than made up for it. Now, with the institution of the IAAF World Relays, Sturrup said she’s beginning to realise just how important those feats were for the Bahamas.

“I think the memories will come when I see my teammates and everybody around me,” said Sturrup of the recognition the Golden Girls are expected to receive this weekend.

“Now that I’m just wandering around the hotel, it’s like it’s just another event. But I guess when I see everybody, it will bring back those memories again.”

On the corps of sprinters who are gaining momentum to replace the Golden Girls - names like Anthonique Strachan, Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson, Nivea Smith and Tayla Carter who will be carrying the Bahamian flag this weekend without Miller, Shaunae Sturrup said there’s no doubt that Team Bahamas still has the talent.

“I just hope that the kids don’t take their talent for granted and use it wisely,” she summed up.

“We do have great talent and eventually the younger ones will be able to start their own legacy.”