The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE there’s conflicting reports on who will be allowed to compete on the athletics team at the 17th Pan American Games, Bahamas Olympic Committee vice president Robert Butler said they have not gotten any report of any competitor who will have to be removed from the team that is heading to Toronto, Canada, this weekend.

A report has been circulating that because the “maximum number of male and female competitors in athletics is 680 for all countries combined,” there is a limitation on exactly how many athletes will be allowed to represent each country.

Mike Sands, president of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations, said they made their recommendation to the BOC and what they have been made aware of is that the organising committee of the Pan Am Games are identifying the individuals who will actually compete.

“They’re telling us that they might be looking at having one per each event,” Sands said. “This is the most unusual thing that has ever happened in the history of the sport. I don’t recall this ever happening before. So from the BAAA perspective, I’m not in a position to say exactly what will happen because this is a BOC event.

“So the BAAA doesn’t have that much input. If this was an IAAF event, then the BAAA would know something because we deal directly with them. So we don’t have any choice in the decisions that are made, but we are hoping that at the end of the day, all of our recommendations for the team will go through.”

The technical meeting for the athletic competition at the games will be held on Monday, July 20, just before the actual competition starts on Tuesday, July 21.

Butler, who serves as the chef de mission for the BTC Team Bahamas at the games, said whoever was selected to the team is expected to travel to Canada and should be reporting to the games village in Toronto.

“I don’t understand how that information even got out because there’s no truth to that,” Butler said. “I spoke to Rommel (Knowles, the BOC secretary general) this morning and he has no knowledge of any of these reports. The only truth is that Leevan Sands is not coming, but Donald Thomas has been added to the team.”

Originally, Thomas nor Sands was selected to the team although they both had qualified. But while Thomas is the reigning champion from the previous games, he was given the nod to get in. Sands, according to Butler, would have had to win the national title in order to be considered.

“Whoever we have on the team is coming,” said Butler of the projected 27-member team submitted by the BAAA for ratification. “So I don’t understand how the information got out about who will be allowed to compete and who won’t. There’s no truth to that. The only truth is that Leevan Sands won’t be coming because he didn’t win the nationals.”

As the chef de mission, Butler said he will be waiting this weekend to receive all of the athletes on the list that was approved and ratified by the BOC with the addition of Thomas. The athletes are expected to make the trek to Toronto between July 20-22. One or two of the athletes are scheduled to arrive after that date.

“Unless there are some changes that were made and we are not aware of it, we expect to have the full team in the games village,” Butler said.

The track and field competition is scheduled to start on Tuesday, July 21 and wrap up on Sunday, July 26.

They will be the last of the Team Bahamas to compete. This weekend, the three-member boxing team of Carl Hield, Keishno Major and Rashield Williams will be in action. They will follow tennis player Philip Major Jr and gymnast Kianna Dean, who are done and swimmers Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Ariel Weech, Dustin Tynes, Laura Morley and Joanna Evans, who will wrap up competition on Saturday.

“We’re looking good,” Butler said. “All of the athletes who have competed so far have done very well.

“We’re just waiting on the boxers to start on Saturday and the track team to come in. All of the athletes here have been training hard and performing to the best of their abilities.”