The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER looking at the performances of Team Bahamas at the 17th Pan American Games last week in Toronto, Canada, the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations is expected to re-assess the team going into the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China next month.

BAAA president Mike Sands said a decision on the final team selection will be made following the NACAC Championships in Costa Rica August 7-9. The BAAA, he said, will take advantage of the August 10 deadline to complete the team for Beijing.

“Although we didn’t get some of the results that we had anticipated, overall we were very pleased with the performances of the athletes, particularly those athletes who would have medalled and those athletes who would have done their season best performances,” Sands said.

“It’s been a long season and there appears to be some athletes who are banged up, but we look forward to everybody being healthy and ready to compete at the next stop, which is NACAC where we will re-evaluate some of the athletes before they go to Beijing so that we can make the adjustments wherever necessary.”

The Bahamas finished 16th overall in the standings with six medals, inclusive of two gold, two silver and two bronze. While swimmer Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace got a gold and bronze in swimming, Jeffery Gibson led the athletic team with a gold in the men’s 400 metre hurdles. The two silvers came from Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands and Bianca ‘BB’ Stuart in the men’s triple jump and women’s long jump respectively. Donald Thomas added the bronze in the men’s high jump.

As a result of his performance, Sands booked his ticket to the World Championships by surpassing the qualifying standard of 16.90 metres or 55-feet, 5 1/2-inches when he soared 16.99m (55-9) for his silver medal.

Of the four relay teams, the women’s 4 x 400m relay team of Lanece Clarke, Christine Amertil, Carmeisha Cox and Katrina Seymour ran 3:31.60 for fifth place in the final after the same team matched the 3:31.18 in the semi-final that was done at the IAAF World Relays in May at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium. The team is currently sitting in the 15th spot.

The men’s 4 x 400m team, although already qualified for the Worlds, had a chance to get a medal in the final, but after LaToy Williams, Michael Mathieu and Alonzo Russell helped pushed the team out front on the first three legs, Gibson started to cramp up down the stretch on the anchor leg and ended up dropping to fourth as he was passed by Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba and the United States in that order.

However, the women’s 4 x 100m relay team of Devynne Charlton, Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson, Tylar Carter and Adanaca Brown are now sitting on the bubble after they got seventh in the final in 44.38 and the men’s 4 x 100m relay team of Johnathan Farquharson, Teray Smith, Elroy McBride and Warren Fraser ran 39.53 for fifth in their semi-final heat, but didn’t advance to the final.

Neither of the 4 x 100m teams ran faster than the teams did at the World Championships where the women did 44.11 and the men did 39.32.

“It’s embarrassing that we find ourselves in this position where our relay teams find themselves trying to qualify when we had the opportunity to do so here at home, just by making the final of the World Relays,” Sands said. “But be that as it may, we are still making every effort to qualify. Our last hope is at NACAC where we still have a chance to make the standard.”

Sands said following NACAC, the IAAF will determine the top 16 teams that will qualify for the Worlds. But he noted that it will only be the teams from the ninth to the 16th spots who will be considered as the top eight teams have already booked their lanes from the World Relays.

“We now have to go out there and execute and be in the second tier of eight to allow us to be considered by the IAAF for the final slots,” he said. “The plus with NACAC is that it has been approved as the area championships and the area champion, except for the relays, automatically qualifies for the Worlds where there are no more than three qualifiers already.”

With the team already selected for NACAC, Sands said they will travel on August 5 and compete August 7-9 with the final team submitted to the IAAF for the World Championships following August 10, which will allow all of the areas to conclude their respective championships.

“All of our entries will be revisited because if you look at some of the results at Pan Am, there is some cause for concern where athletes either appeared to have sustained some form of injury or not performing up to expectations when in fact they should be in fact working towards their peak,” Sands said.

“There is the concern for some performances which were sub par or where there maybe evidence of injury. The management and the coaching staff will have the authority and the athletes will be duly informed that they will have to be healthy to perform at the World Championship level.”

Sands said they will have to take a look at the athletes to see who is best suited to compete in Beijing.

“Nobody has to think that they are guaranteed a spot on the team with subpar performances,” he said. “Not because you have qualified, the discretion is now up to the management, the coaches and the executives of the BAAA following the NACAC Championship to determine if you are fit to compete at the World Championships.

“It’s not just about going on a trip, but it’s about performing when they do go.”