The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas will look to continue its rich history at the IAAF World Youth Athletics Championships led by athletes that have turned in some of the top times on the youth top lists thus far this season.

The 10th edition of the meet is scheduled to get underway in approximately 40 days - July 15-19 - at the Olimpico Pascual Guerrero Stadium in Cali, Colombia.

Leading the way for the Bahamas on top lists is Grand Bahamian sprinter Javan Martin who has turned in the fifth fastest 100m time in the world this year - 10.41 seconds.

The 17-year-old Tabernacle Baptist Academy student recorded the feat during April’s CARIFTA Track and Field Championships in St Kitts and Nevis.

Ahead of Martin on the list is Abdul Sani Brown of Japan (10.30s), Filippo Tortu of Italy (10.33s and 10.34s) and Derick Silva of Brazil (10.38s).

Martin has also run a season’s best time of 21.16s in the 200m in a silver medal performance, also at CARIFTA.

Also making an appearance on the top lists will be Brianne Bethel with the ninth fastest time in the world this season. Also a Grand Bahama native, she ran her season’s best time at CARIFTA with a 23.47s run in a silver medal performance.

American Candice Hill leads the list at 23.05s, followed by countrywomen Kaylin Whitney (23.06s, 23.16s and 23.24s), Lauren Rain Williams (23.19s and 23.20s), Symone Mason (23.37s), Shaneil English of Jamaica (23.38s) and Bethel.

Both athletes moved up to the senior ranks to represent the Bahamas at the IAAF World Relay Championships.

Bethel was a member of the women’s 4x200m team that finished second on the track, but was disqualified due to a faulty exchange between Bethel and Anthonique Strachan.

Martin was a member of the 4x100m team which ran 39.32sec for sixth in their heat and 14th overall and also a member of the 4x200m team which finished fifth in 1:22.91s.

“The IAAF World Youth Championships give Cali, the sports capital of Colombia, its first opportunity to impress on the international athletics stage since it hosted the 1971 edition of the Pan-American Games,” said IAAF President Lamine Diack in a press release.

“If athletics is to remain the No.1 individual sport in a changing world, then we must encourage and attract the youth of every generation. The IAAF World Youth Championships, which began in Bydgoszcz in 1999, are a central part of our strategy to inspire kids around the world.

“The IAAF World Youth Championships are not just another competition but an opportunity for youngsters to gain valuable experience, improve personal bests, and to build friendships with their rivals from every corner of the world.”

There were no medal-winning events for Team Bahamas at the 8th IAAF World Youth Athletics Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2013.

However, a number of athletes recorded personal bests in a series of spirited performances against the top junior athletes in the world.

The Bahamas’ largest ever team for the bi-annual meet, 18 members, produced three finalists and seven semi-finalists, while several athletes also set new personal bests.

The top individual performance for the Bahamas came on day four from high jumper Laquan Nairn who just missed a spot on the medal podium due to a higher number of knockdowns.

Nairn jumped a then personal best of 2.16m, which he cleared on his second attempt to enter a three-way tie with Christoff Bryan of Jamaica and Oleksandr Barannikov of the Ukraine.

The Bahamas has continued to see an improvement in its performances since the inception of the biannual championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in 1999.

Nivea Smith broke the ice in 2007 when she won a bronze medal in the women’s 200 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

In 2011 in Lille, France, the Bahamas got its best showing with Shaunae Miller and Stephen Newbold capturing the gold in the 400m and 200m respectively, and Latario Collie-Minns winning the gold in the triple jump, while his twin brother Lathone Collie-Minns picked up the bronze.