The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ON the eve of hosting the IAAF/BTC World Relays Bahamas 2015, International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) President Lamine Diack announced that the Bahamas will be awarded the third edition when the event shifts to biannual one with the next hosting in 2017.

Diack, who will be demitting office during the IAAF Congress at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China in August, said the IAAF has agreed to award the Bahamas the rights to host the relays for the third time. He announced that after they used the first two consecutive years as a trial, they have now decided to host the relays every two years.

The Bahamas was awarded the bid for the first relays in 2014 and again this year. The relays is the newest initiative by the IAAF.

Mike Sands, CEO and vice chairman of the Local Organising Committee, said they are grateful for the confidence that the IAAF has placed in the Bahamas in awarding the third edition as well.

“We look forward to hosting the next edition of Bahamazing,” said Sands, who was accompanied by LOC managing director Lionel Haven and executive chairman Keith Parker.

In response to a question as to why the IAAF gave the Bahamas the nod over other Caribbean Islands like Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, Sands said it’s because “it’s better in the Bahamas.”

Haven said a lot of effort went into making this year’s event a success. “It took a lot of work and a lot of effort from a lot of people to ensure the success of the event,” he said. “A lot of people put in a lot of long hours to make sure that everything was in order, so I’m very pleased with the team we had and the personal commitment that they gave.

“That was certainly significant for the overall success that we got. We’re now in the process of decommissioning the event, getting the equipment that was transported in transported out of the country and getting the teams back to their homes in just as safe a manner as they came here. So there’s still a lot of work that we are engaged in.”

But if there’s any sanctification for the LOC, it’s the fact that Haven said they can build on the first two editions to further refine their preparation for the return in 2017.

“It’s just a matter now of looking at the overall programme, the operations ran over the past two days, seeing what we can do to improve on our efficiencies, improve on our preparations, improve on our planning and then of course, improve on our execution to ensure that things flow a lot smoother,” he said.

“The first year, we had a consulting group that came in from the IAAF to sort of guide us, but this year we went at it for the most part on our own. We still worked hand in hand with the directors of the IAAF, but our directors were given the freedom to run their areas and so we had some improvements over last year and we had some areas where we could still see some improvements.”

Over the next two weeks, Haven said the LOC will be engaged in a vigorous post-mortem as they look at all aspects of the event and hopefully they will be able to put a dollar figure on the operation.

“We still have the accommodations for the visiting athletes, the IAAF delegates and their families, the layout and design for the preparation of the stadium to ensure that it’s to the correct standard and then of course, some minimum capital infrastructure that had to be, we’re not quite sure of the dollar value just yet,” he said.

“We know that the government had set a target figure for the production of $5 million, but we haven’t gotten all of the figures. So I don’t want to give any figures unless I’m factual in the estimation. But for events like these, we can’t focus on whether or not we will net a profit. We have to focus more on the economic impact.”

Haven said persons have to look at the fact that the event was broadcast in more than 161 countries around the world last year and that played a significant role in attracting more people this year, who were able to take advantage of all of the amenities that the country has to offer.

More than 40 countries participated in the two-day event that offered $1.4 million in cash prizes. The United States repeated as the Golden Baton champions with 63 points, ahead of Jamaica, who finished with 46 for second. Poland rounded out the top three with 34. The Bahamas was tied for 10th with Canada with 11.

The Americans won all of the relays, except for the women’s 4 x 100 and men’s 4 x 200 that went to Jamaica and the women’s 4 x 200 which was won by Nigeria.

Two world records were set by the United States in the men’s and women’s distance medley relay, which replaced the 4 x 1,500m that saw the Kenyans set world records last year. There was also a number of championship records and world-leading times.

The Bahamas had two teams in the A finals with the men’s 4 x 400m team of Ramon Miller, Michael Mathieu, Steven Gardiner and Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown picking up the silver behind the United States, while the men’s 4 x 200m team of Deneko Brown, Andretti Bain, Alfred Higgs and Blake Bartlett placed fifth.

The majority of the top athletes in the world competed in the event, including Jamaica’s Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown, Americans Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix and Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown and Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas.

There was also a special appearance by ‘Golden Girls’ Sevatheda Fynes, Chandra Sturrup, Eldece Clarke and Pauline Davis-Thompson. In addition to the various IAAF dignitaries on hand, among the special guests were world renowned retired competitors Michael Johnson from the United States, Frankie Fredericks from Namibia and Ato Bolden from Trinidad & Tobago.