The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

If there was any meet that Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands was targeting in his comeback all season long, it was the 17th Pan Am Games. So when he was originally told that he was not on the team, he was outraged. But after a last minute appeal, Sands was given his ticket to Toronto, Canada, and on Friday he made the best of it.

He soared a season’s best of 16.99 metres or 55-feet, 9-inches, not only for the silver medal, but also to qualify for the IAAF World Championships next month in Beijing, China.

“I felt disrespected. I felt that I deserved to be on the team. All year I’ve been talking about Pan Am because this was the meet where I wanted to come and compete,” he told The Tribune. “A lot of times, they say the elite athletes don’t want to come to the smaller championships or games, but I never gave up on any of them.

“I’ve gone to all of the CAC Games and Championships, all the Pan Ams. I even told the BAAA (Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations) that I wanted to come here and I qualified, but they say the BOC (Bahamas Olympic Committee) took me off the team. But I glad I spoke up for my rights. By coming out and speaking up, I think that was why I was on the team.”

The 33-year-old has now won a medal at all of the major meets, except the CAC Games although he has four CAC Championship medals. But he admitted that this one was more special than every other medal he has gotten, including a bronze at the Olympics in Beijing in 2008, a bronze in the World Championships in 2003 in Paris, France and  bronze in the Commonwealth Games in 2002 in Manchester, England.

“This is medal time baby. You know how I go when it’s time to go for a medal,” he said. “I’ve done five meets this year, but this was just a test year for me to see where God has brought me from my injury,” said Sands, who is recuperating from a knee injury that required surgery at the Olympics in London, England, in 2012 when he was competing in the triple jump final.

“It’s like a dream come true. It just feels great,” said Sands of his performance. “There were so many naysayers on my road to recovery, my road to greatness. But I’ve had a lot of positive feedbacks from a lot of Bahamians and a lot of people from around the world.

“It’s inspiring to a lot of athletes, not only from the Bahamas, but around the world. I just appreciate everybody and the support from the Bahamian people and my family. I couldn’t have done it without them. My wife and my kids and my parents, my sisters and my brother, the Lewis family and the whole of Pinewood Gardens. I’m just thankful.”

Sands, coming off a second place finish at the BAAA National Open Track and Field Championships behind Latario Collie-Minns at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium in June, said he felt like he won a World Championship medal. He did it by splitting up a pair of Cubans with Pedro Pichardo taking the gold with 17.54m (57-6 1/2) and Ernesto Reve the bronze with 16.94m (55-7).

“I got emotional. After going from not being on the team to being on the team, getting the medal after I went through what I did at the Olympics, I am so happy,” he said. “After I did it, I got so emotional that I just broke down and tears came out. It was very emotional. It means the world to me.

“Even if I go to the Worlds and I don’t win a medal or get to the final, I am still pleased because I came here, I jumped far and I qualified for the Worlds. I think to jump 55-9 is outstanding, seeing that this is just my first year back from the injury. I have to be thankful. I thank God for health and being injury free right now.”

Also in the event, providing Sands with his first opportunity to go head-to-head with another Bahamian at a major international meet was Collie-Minns, the national champion. In his debut at the senior level, the 21-year-old junior and Texas A&M standout didn’t make the final cut, placing 10th overall with 16.08m (52-9 1/4).

“I know it’s a learning experience for him and I know that things will get better for him too,” Sands said of Collie- Minns. “I’m expecting things to turn around for him at Worlds. I think if both of us can go over 16.80m, we could have two people in the final for the first time in Beijing.

“In the atmosphere of the World Championships being there so many times before, I’m going in as the underdog, but I’m consistent so I don’t have any pressure on myself. I’m just going to go there and have some fun. I know that he will be looking to improve on what he did here, so we will see what happens.”

Before the Worlds, Sands said he intends to travel to Costa Rico to compete in the NACAC Championships August 7-9. Hopefully he can continue his road to recovery with another fantastic performance.

Sands’ father, Leevan Sands Sr, who himself was home recuperating from surgery, felt just as thrilled about what his son achieved in Toronto.

“I don’t know why they treat the elite athletes the way that they do, but he is the national record holder and he had to go through a lot just to get on the team,” Sands Sr said. “That was one games that he really wanted to go to. As he could see, the more he competed, the more he got his rhythm back.

“So when he got on the team, he was very happy. I think the hard time that he had to go through really motivated him. I am really happy for him because it was a big motivation for him. He turned his disappointment into success.”

While their family didn’t make the trip to Toronto, Sands Sr said he clearly remembers when Sands Jr was placed in the ambulance in London and he was crying, he told him that he wanted to go back on the track to complete the triple jump.

“He said ‘daddy, I want that medal for the Bahamian people. Daddy, please, I want to go back to jump,’” the senior Sands recalled. “I told him that he can’t jump because he was also stabilised. He told me that he felt he let the Bahamian people down, but I told him that he did his best and he needs to get the best care.

“The spirit and the love that he has for this country and the Bahamian people is so unique that I don’t understand why they treat him like that. When he competes, he competes for the Bahamian people. He wants the medal for them. That’s his whole heart and soul. I’m very happy that he’s getting close behind back 100 per cent. I think by the Olympics next year, he will be there.”

Sands Sr said he advised his son to “give God thanks” that it’s over and he came through with a medal.

“Coming back from the injury he had wasn’t easy,” he said. “I just don’t know how he did it. All of the pain and agony, all for the Bahamian people. He loves his country. I think the disappointment of not being on the team at the beginning motivated him when he got on the team.”

Sands Sr said he just hopes that this will cause the officials of the BOC and the BAAA to treat the Bahamian athletes a whole lot better than they do.

Before going into the ambulance at the stadium in London, Leevan Sands told senior Tribune reporter Brent Stubbs: “It ain’t over yet, I’ll be back.” He certainly proved that he is indeed back.