The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

 bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Jeffery Gibson, with his left hand clinched in the air, powered across the finish line at the CIBC Pan Am/Parapan Am Athletics Stadium as he celebrated his gold medal in the men’s 400m hurdles at the 17th Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. 

The winning time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist was 48.51 seconds - another national record - as he lowered his previous mark of 48.77 from a meet at the Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern track and field meet in Lucerne, Switzerland as he also moved up from 11th to sixth on the world list with his stunning performance over two top contenders.

Javier Culson of Puerto Rico, who has already ran 48.48, was second in 48.67 for the silver, while Jamaican Roxroy Cato picked up the bronze in a season’s best of 48.72. Race favourite Kerron Clement of the United States, who has ran 48.44, ended up fourth in 48.72.

"I felt great about the race and I was able to execute each phase properly. I'm thankful to God for allowing me to continue to run fast and to win," Gibson told The Tribune. "It feels great to be a champion. To know that your name is going to be in the books feels fantastic."

Gibson, referred to as the “Gentle Giant”, received his medal from Sir Arlington Butler, the immediate past president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee, who was invited by the organising committee to participate in the ceremony following the historic race.

"It meant a lot to get it from him, as he knows my family, the Gibsons, really well," said Gibson.

"We were able to talk a little before the medal ceremony and he told me that he had asked to present the 400m hurdles because he knew I would win. To have people believe in me that way continues to drives me to be a better athlete."

Gibson also had some motivation in the stands as well as his aunt, Janice, who lives in Toronto, came out to watch him run.

“Seeing her in the stands reminded me that I must do my best and that she believes in me,” he said.

But he admitted that there's no time to rest on his laurels.

"Like all of my hard races, I'm going to celebrate this with a nice ice bath," he said. "Although one race is done I still have to be ready in case I'm needed to run the 4x400 relay. I can't celebrate just yet. The season is still in full swing and I have to get ready for World Champs in August."

Team manager Ralf McKinney said they were extremely pleased with Gibson’s performance and noted that it should set the tone for the remainder of the games with Anthonique Strachan advancing to the women’s 200m finals that will be held on a busy day today for the Bahamas.

In addition to the Strachan race, the Bahamas will also be looking at getting a medal in the men’s triple jump with Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands and Latario Collie-Minns as well as Bianca ‘BB’ Stuart in the women’s long jump. All four relay teams - men and women 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 - will be competing for a spot in the final on Saturday when the men’s high jump final will also take place.

With his performance running out of lane seven, 24-year-old Gibson continued to lower the national record that he first set in 2013 in Eugene, Oregon, when he ran 49.39 as a student at Oral Roberts University. He came back at the Florida Relays in 2014 and pushed the record to 2014. But in picking up his bronze in Scotland last year, Gibson dropped the mark down to 48.78.

The champion of the 2014 Pan Am Sports Festival and silver medallist at the 2013 Central American and Caribbean Games indicated prior to going to Toronto that his focus this year is going to Beijing, China next month for his second appearance at the IAAF World Championships and improving on his semi-final showing that he accomplished at his debut in Tokyo, Japan.

"The way my times have been dropping consistently and the adjustment smade by my coach George Willimas, I am hoping that I will drop in the 47 second range and be a part of Club 47," said Gibson of breaking the 48-second barrier. "The whole concept of running semis and finals at this meet gave me a slight idea of how it will be to run rounds at World's."

It was the second gold medal for the Bahamas at the games. The first came from Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, who took the women’s 50 metres freestyle in 24.31 seconds for a new Pan Am and Bahamas national record to go along with the 25-year-old bronze medal in the 100m free in 54.15.

Their feats pushed the Bahamas to 15th place on the medal chart, just two spots behind powerhouse Jamaica, who was sitting in 13th spot with three gold, one silver and one bronze. The Dominican Republic was occupying the 14th spot with two gold, five silver and nine bronze.

In athletics alone, Gibson’s gold has the Bahamas sitting tied with four others - Dominican Republic, St Lucia, Peru and Venezuela - in ninth spot. From swimming, Vanderpool-Wallace’s efforts enabled the Bahamas to finish in the fifth spot behind Argentina and ahead of Venezuela. The United States, Brazil and Canada topped the three leading spots.

The three medals matched the three won at the last Pan Am Games in 2011 when Donald Thomas took the gold in the men’s high jump, Valentino Knowles got a silver in men’s light welterweight boxing and Ramon Miller came up with the bronze in the men’s 400m.

Thomas will be defending his title Saturday when he competes with national champion Ryan Ingraham. Knowles has since retired, but was at the games as a coach of the boxing team. And Miller, coming off an injury at the inaugural IAAF World Relays at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium last year, didn’t advance out of the preliminaries of the 400 when he ran 48.54 for eighth place.