The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@troibunemedia.net

BEIJING, China — From Commonwealth Games bronze last year to Pan American Games gold this year, Jeffery Gibson is now just one step away from completing an unprecedented cycle of winning a medal at all of the major international track and field meets.

On day four of the 15th IAAF World Championships, Gibson lowered the national record in the men’s 400 metres hurdles for the fourth time this year to claim the bronze medal.

Becoming the first Bahamian to win a global medal in the event, the Grand Bahamian pushed the national time from the 48.37 seconds that he posted in qualifying for the final on Sunday to 48.17.

His medal put the Bahamas tied for 20th place with Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Uganda with one each on the chart that surprisingly is being led by Kenya with nine, inclusive of four gold, three silver and two bronze.

One of those gold came from Nicholas Bett, the winner in a world leading time of 47.79. Denis Kudryavtsev held off Gibson at the line to also produce a national record for Russia in 48.05.

“The medal is a great achievement, but I take it as the next stepping stone towards the future,” said Gibson, who added the medal to his collection of the bronze at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and his gold last month at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.

“I know I can perform much better. There were a couple of things I have to work on. I am looking forward to more races and more training for the Olympic season.”

Since erasing Greg Rolle’s 30-year-old national record of 49.46 that he set back in 1983 with a new time of 49.38 at the NCAA Championships in 2013 in Eugene, Oregon, Gibson has gone on to lower his mark six more times in the last two years.

This year alone, he did it four times in a spare of one month, starting at a meet in Luzern on July 14 where he ran 48.74, followed by the Pan Am Games in Toronto, Canada in 48.51 on July 23 and the two final rounds here.

Gibson, coming into the championships in a celebratory mood with his 24th birthday falling on August 14, said he owes a debt of gratitude to so many people for enabling him to achieve the level of success that he is enjoying right now.

“Just by the grace of God, he was able to bring me through it,” Gibson told reporters. “There was a lot of love and support from my family and friends, people who sent me the encouraging messages, they helped me to get through this. My family, my coach, my team-mates, they all were able to bring me to this level. They all truly helped to get me to this point.”

And having posted a NR (national record) at the end of his time in all three major meets that he has won a medal, Gibson said it will only serve as a moral booster as he presses towards his ultimate goal, which is to not only medal at the Olympics next year, but to also become the first Bahamian to reach unchartered territory and that is to run under the 48-second barrier.

“I know I’m still learning and trying to get better each race, so it just shows me that I have to try to do better each time and keep going, keep the momentum going,” he said.

In last night’s final, Gibson had to rely on much more than just his momentum to get him across the finish line.

“I know that at the beginning, I was a little bit hasty to get to the first hurdle. Coach (George Washington) was telling me you don’t have to go out that fast, go your normal pace,” he said. “The first two hurdles were good, I kind of dragged my leg over the hurdle on the third one and the fourth one, I went over my left leg, which was sort of new to me. But I knew it was not something that would spoil the race. So getting to the last curve where you could see everyone, I realised that everyone was still there. I didn’t know who was behind me and who could have rallied, but the people who I saw, I knew they were still in striking distance, so I decided to strike.”

Although he barely saw Bett on the outside of him, Gibson said he didn’t expect him to be a threat. In fact, he was just as surprised as everybody to see how fast the Kenyan ran, considering that in all of the races he has participated in, he has never seen the Kenyan national record holder compete.

“Each round, he just kept getting better and better,” Gibson said. “He and the other Kenyans were performing very well.”

While there was much celebrations in the African camp, Gibson said he’s still waiting to feel how significant his accomplishment was for the Bahamas.

”This is just another big meet on to something else, so I thank God for allowing me to get through it,” he said.

Now that his job is done, Gibson said he will go to the hotel, take a nice ice bath and enjoy whatever China has to offer. He doesn’t intend to suit up for the men’s 4 x 400m relay team, which has its pool of six competitors. He said he’s also looking forward to going home to spend a few days in Grand Bahama with his family and friends and hopefully any other celebrations that will be done by the Bahamas Government.