The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) inaugural World Relays is over and done with, but the memories of the intense two days of competition will linger in the minds of our Bahamian athletes.

Sprinters Anthonique Strachan and Adrian Griffith, along with quarter-miler Andretti Bain, all feel that the experience will be one that they will never forget, considering the tremendous support they got from the home crowd.

“To compete in front of the home crowd was really exciting,” said Strachan, who ran on both the women’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 metres relay teams. “This is one of the few international meets where people actually know who you are and they know the accomplishments that you made in track and field.

“The crowd was really loud and vibrant and they were truly involved in all of the events, including the 4 x 1,500 metres, which I couldn’t do because I am not interested in those long races, I’m not going to lie.”

In all honesty, Strachan said her favourite two races were the men’s 4 x 100m and the men’s 4 x 400m, for obvious reasons, as a sprinter.

Strachan, 20, anchored the women’s 4 x 100m team of V’Alonee Robinson, Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson and Cache Armbrister to a second place finish in the B final in a season’s best of 43.46 seconds. Canada won the race in 43.33.

And in the 4 x 200m, Strachan was on the second leg behind Ferguson and ahead of Nivea Smith with Armbrister on anchor as the squad raced to a fourth place finish in 1:31.31 for a new national record.

The United States, anchored by Kimberley Duncan, got the victory in a championship record of 1:29.45 as they held off Great Britain, anchored by Asha Philip, in 1:29.61 and Jamaica with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on anchor coming in third in 1:30.04, the latter two in national record performances.

For Griffith, who also had double duties, albeit the men’s 4 x 100m team disqualified, while the men’s 4 x 200m team that included Blake Bartlett, Wesley Neymour and Bain finished sixth in the final in 1:23.19.

Jamaica got a sterling anchor leg from Yohan Blake as they went on to post one of the three world records in 1:18.63 as the United States got disqualified. St Kitts & Nevis was elevated to second in 1:20.51 for a national record and France was third in 1:20.66 for an area record.

“It was very electrifying, especially on the home stretch,” Griffith said. “With all the cheering and everybody clapping and calling your name, you couldn’t hear yourself running.

“It reminded me when we competed at the CARIFTA Games here in 2002, but it was bigger than that. They gave me a lot of energy, knowing that I was doing it for my country and I was running hard and giving it all I had. I just left it all on the track.”

Just before the relays, Bain said he was joking around with his wife, Sherice, that when he’s retired from running, he wants to get into wrestling because he liked the way the competitors make their entrance coming out on stage.

Surprisingly, the IAAF introduced a new concept where the four names of each team came out of a curtain together and was introduced as a team one by one in order of the lane they were running in their events.

As a member of the men’s 4 x 200m, Bain said he felt extra special when they came out.

“With the new set up, we got that feeling,” said Bain about their entrance compared to what happens with the wrestlers. “You are never really singled out, but we had an opportunity to take advantage of our five minutes of charade and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope that the IAAF looks at it and continues to do it because it gives track and field a new look. So hopefully they can continue to do that.”