The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A series of record-breaking performances culminating in a bronze medal at the World Championships in Beijing, China, earned Jeffery Gibson The Tribune’s Male Athlete of the Year honour. The top five athletes came down to a diverse group with one common denominator, each planned for their 2015 seasons to set the stage for even greater achievements to come in 2016.

1 Jeffery Gibson

It was a landmark year for Gibson who charted new territory for Bahamian sprint hurdlers, rewrote the record books and brought national exposure for his signature event. Gibson’s season was highlighted by the historic 400m hurdles bronze medal won at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Beijing, China in a new national record time of 48.37 seconds. It was the second 400m hurdle medal Gibson won in 2015, following the gold he won at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, back in July.

The World Championship medal was a fitting culmination to his rise over the course of the season that saw him lower his own national record on several occasions.

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 span of one month, starting at a meet in Luzern, Switzerland 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 at the World Championships in August.

The 25-year-old was lauded with awards for his rise to prominence on the international track and field world. He was named the Caribbean Sports Journalists Association (CASJA) 2015 Male Rising Star of the Year while locally he finished as a finalist for the Prime Minister’s Award for National Pride at the inaugural Bahamas National Sports Awards.

While 2015 was the best season of Gibson’s career to date, he plans to exceed expectations as he prepares for the biggest hurdle of his career, the 2016 Olympic Games.

“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. “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.”

2 Lucius Fox Jr

Baseball in the country experienced a resurgence in recent years and there may be no clearer poster child for that success than Lucius Fox of the San Francisco Giants. Fox, the 6’2” 170-pound shortstop, was the most anticipated signing of any international prospect in this summer’s class and celebrated his 18th birthday with a deal that included a signing bonus worth approximately $6 million.

When Fox reclassified as an international free agent in late April, he immediately became one of the most sought after MLB prospects for this signing period.

Fox, who was already expected to be one of the top 50 selections in June’s draft, petitioned to be declared an international free agent when he moved back home this spring following a storied career at American Heritage High School in Florida.

Following the move, he further honed his skills at Maximum Development Academy which has produced four MLB minor league signees in just over two years. We still await the impact he will have on the field, but Fox’s legacy may be the way he has forced professional scouts to revisit the way they evaluate Bahamian prospects.

The Giants were so intent on winning the bidding war for Fox that the price of his signing bonus means the team will pay about $4 million in penalties and lose the ability to spend more than $300,000 on a single player for the next two international signing periods.

“I want to thank God with blessing me with the talent and blessing me with the people he has put in my life thus far and I look forward to more blessings in the future. I’d like to thank my parents because they never told me no when it came to baseball. They saw I had a gift and any showcase or tryout that I wanted to attend, they found a way for me to get there,” Fox said on signing day. “I thank the Giants for seeing the talent in me. I hope to make it to San Francisco as soon as possible, help the ball clubs win some games and win a lot of World Series. I want to thank Max D for embracing me while coming home since last year and helping me get better and also to all the various coaches that played an instrumental role in my life. I want to say thanks.”

The best athlete in the 2015 international class, Fox stands out most with his plus-plus speed. A switch-hitter with solid ability from both sides of the plate, he profiles as a leadoff hitter and dynamic basestealer with power to hit in the gaps.

In terms of pure tools, Fox has the quickness, hands and arm to stick at shortstop. Some scouts aren’t sold on his middle-infield actions, however, and think he’s destined for centre field.

3 Buddy Hield

A notorious hard worker that has improved in each of his NCAA seasons, Hield has transformed himself into one of the top overall players in all of college basketball. A contributor as a freshman, full time starter as a sophomore and team leading scorer as a junior, Hield has positioned himself as one of the leading contenders for the Naismith Player of the Year Award.

In March, Hield drew the attention of the national media when he won Big 12 Player of the Year and led the Oklahoma Sooners to a 24-11 record and reached the “Sweet 16” round of the NCAA tournament.

The Sporting News named the Grand Bahama native as a preseason third team All-American. He was also named to the preseason watch list for the Jerry West award, given to the nation’s top scoring guard. Hield averaged 17.4 points a game last season and added 5.4 rebounds a contest, most among Big 12 guards. He also led the league with his 93 three-pointers and ranked sixth in free throw percentage at 82 and ninth in three-point field goal percentage at 36. He was also named the Big 12 preseason Player of the Year for this season and seeks to make history as the first player to win back-to-back awards since Raef LaFrentz won the award for the Kansas Jayhawks in 1997 and 1998. His expectations reached staggering levels once Hield announced he would forego the NBA Draft to stay in Oklahoma for his senior season and Hield has lived up to those expectations.

The Sooners remain undefeated on the season and have risen to No.3 in the polls, due in large part to the improvement of Hield. Hield has improved his numbers across the board, currently fifth in the NCAA scoring at 24.9 points per game. He is also averaging 5.3 rebounds, shooting 51 per cent, 52 per cent from beyond the three-point arch and 90 per cent from the free throw line.

In his junior season Hield scored more than 25 points five times and 30 points just once. Since his senior season began in November, Hield has scored at least 25 points six times already and over 30 points four times in just 11 games.

“We’re thinking Final Four or bust,” Hield said prior to the season at Big 12 media day. “The spotlight is on me. I understand that, but I’m used to it now. It doesn’t faze me. All this is fun. You have to enjoy the process. It’s my last year. I’m just having fun, enjoying the process.”

4 Tureano Johnson

Now carrying the mantle for Bahamian professional boxers, Johnson has gained fans internationally due to his bravado both in the ring and whenever he’s in fornt of a microphone. Johnson, 31, won the vacant WBA International and WBC silver middleweight titles with his fifth round victory over Alex Theran in Madison Square Garden, New York, on January 9. He came back at the same venue on October 17 to win an unanimous 12-round decision over Eamonn O’Kane in the elimination bout for a shot at a world title next year. For his efforts, Johnson was named the most outstanding male athlete of the year at the inaugural Bahamas National Sports Awards. Johnson has now positioned himself as next in line to face dominant middleweight Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin, the current unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBC (interim) and IBO middleweight champion. “When that opportunity comes, you won’t be disappointed. I will definitely bring it and give all I can,” Johnson said. “I ain’t just going to fight Triple G for fighting sake. I’m going to beat Triple G. That’s what my gameplan is. I hope you all enjoy it. We’re going to make that happen.”

5 Leevan Sands

The feel good story of the year, Sands’ indomitable spirit led his comeback from a career threatening injury to reclaim a spot on the biggest stage in track and field. ‘Superman’ Sands, missing in action for the past two years because of an injury, swung back into action in April with a winning performance at the War Eagle Invitational 2015 in Auburn, Alabama.

The 2008 Olympic and 2003 World Championship bronze medallist passed on his first attempt at the competition, leaping 15.88m on his third and final jump. Since suffering the injury at the 2012 London Olympics, requiring surgery to repair his left knee, Sands has been on the comeback trail.

Last year, he made it back competing in a few long jump competitions. However, the War Eagle saw his return to his signature event, the triple jump. His “Road to Recovery” became complete when Sands clinched the silver medal in the men’s triple jump at the the 17th Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.

Sands, who was not originally named to the team but was included after he lobbied the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations and the Bahamas Olympic Committee, who are responsible for the trip, made good of the last minute decision by posting a season’s best of 16.99 metres (55ft 9in). That performance earned him the right to compete at the IAAF World Championships, back in the Bird’s Nest where he won his first Olympic Games’ medal - a bronze in 2008 . Sands advanced to the triple jump final with the slightest of margins in the 12th and final spot with a jump of 16.73 metres (54ft 10 3/4in). He would eventually finish at No.10 overall.

“The last time I was at a championship (2012 Olympic Games in London, England), I was taken off on a stretcher, so I have to be thankful for everything that the Lord has done for me. I had an amazing year and I was just happy and excited that it is all finished with. It was a great feeling. Making the final was amazing. This is my first year. Nobody expected me to be here,” he said. “I was so excited just to be back here in the final on the world stage and I think a lot of people were excited to see me back doing what I love to do. I feel good about it. Going into next year, my main focus is Rio and so I have to put my all into that. I’m sure that I will be ready for that. Seeing that I got qualified for the World Championships, I will be ready for Rio.”