The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

NOT only are more and more athletes coming to the Bahamas for the second edition of the IAAF/BTC World Relays this week, but Tonique Williams-Darling said there’s going to be a media circus with an increase in journalists and broadcasters attending to cover the two-day event at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

Williams, senior director of event media services, said the first of 87 international journalists from the visiting press was scheduled to arrive in town from Belgium last night and subsequently others will be coming in periodically over the next two days before the bulk of the list will be here by Thursday.

“The international journalists will be representing some 36 agencies from 12 countries and there will be about 27 local journalists representing some 10 agencies,” Williams said. “We also have two Family Islands that will be represented by journalists, who will come in from Grand Bahama and Exuma.”

Among the list of agencies who will be here to cover the event are Track and Field News, Getty Images, three agencies out of Jamaica, three out of Belgium, five from Japan and 16 from the United States,” Williams said. “There are also about 14 broadcasts coming in, including EuroSports, TV Jamaica and Broadcast from China.”

During last year’s initial event, Williams revealed that about 161 countries got a chance to view the meet and this year, they are expecting to surpass those numbers.

To show their gratitude to the media for covering the event, Williams said the IAAF will treat the journalists to a luncheon at Luciano’s Restaurant on Sunday. Prior to the luncheon, Williams said the journalists will be taken on a cruise in Nassau harbour 11am until noon.

The journalists will also be bused on a tour of certain portions of New Providence, concluding with a stop at the Arawak Cay Fish Fry where the Ministry of Tourism is expected to have a taste of conch salad. The MOT is expected to work closely with the media to ensure that the Bahamas gets the maximum international exposure.

“When you compare the numbers from last year, there is a slight increase,” Williams said. “What I think is just notable is the fact that we will have some very good quality agencies. So that is very encouraging. I believe their presence will ensure the world that this event does have the appeal to the sporting world as the IAAF seeks to have the event grow and the Bahamas showcased as a sporting dynasty.

“I think with the growth in the number of countries, we will have some 12 countries who will be sending their writers and photographers here. Some of them will be coming in earlier and some of them will be staying later so they will also experience the Bahamas. We are basically going to be taking the Bahamas to the world in this event.”

Williams, the 2004 Olympic Games and 2005 World Championship gold medallist, said they are ready to welcome the world of journalists who are coming to the Bahamas.

“Last year there was so much going on and we couldn’t grasp it all at once,” she said.

“This year, we are able to provide a greater level of service because it is easier now. We know what we’re doing and so we are better prepared to serve our media personnel when they come.”

As for her transition from competing up until she retired in 2007 to now working on the other side of the sport, Williams said she’s enjoying it because this is giving her an opportunity to see what it takes to be able to pull off an event of this magnitude and to watch how the journalists function in their capacities.

Williams, who works in the office of the Bank of the Bahamas, said she has been so engulfed in her work that she’s starting to feel like a journalist. But she is convinced that it’s not a career she would love to pursue anytime soon.