The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

RIO de Janeiro, Brazil — Chef de Mission Roy Colebrooke said team officials couldn’t come up with a better selection than quartermiler Shaunae Miller to carry the flag during tonight’s official opening ceremonies for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Colebrooke, a vice president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee, was speaking to the media yesterday on the eve of the official opening ceremonies and just after the Bahamian aquamarine, gold and black colours were hoisted during the Welcome Flag Ceremonies that took place in the Games Village.

“Things are looking very good for Team Bahamas and they are all geared up and ready to go,” said Colebrooke as he was flanked by BOC president Wellington Miller and Cora Hepburn, a vice president who is acting as the press liaison in Rio. “We’ve had all of our team meetings and everyone is well prepared and we’re getting ready to start our competition.”

While the competition has already started here in Rio, the Bahamas won’t start competing until Saturday. But Musgrove said that they are hoping that the Bahamian public will be glued to their television at 7pm when the ceremonies are held and quartermiler Shaunae Miller will lead the delegation as the flag bearer in the Maracana Stadium where the Bahamas will be among more than 200 countries participating in the biggest spectacular on the planet.

“We believe that we have selected the right choice in Shaunae Miller to carry the flag. We’re looking for great things from Shaunae,” said Colebrooke of the reigning IAAF World Championship runner-up and potential gold medallist in Rio. “But in addition to Shaunae, we have a lot of new talent here and we believe that Team Bahamas will be doing very well at these games.”

One of those new talents is Emily Morley, who will break the ice as she makes her debut in the women’s single sculls in her Olympic debut.

“On Saturday, I believe all of our competitors will be coming out ready and they will perform to the best of their abilities,” Colebrooke projected.

“Our team meetings were very structured and the athletes were focused and we applied all of the athletes to carry that same set of mindset into the competition.

“Our management team is assuring that the only thing our athletes have to do is worry about their workouts and competing to the best of their abilities.”

Prior to coming to Rio, Colebrooke said he heard all the noise in the market about the Zika virus and a lot of the facilities, including the games village, would not be ready when the games get underway, but he said it’s far from the truth.

“Team Bahamas is not facing anything like that because we had people on the ground working for us,” he said about the facilities. “As it comes to the Zika virus, all precautions are being taken. They are spraying every morning and in addition to that, everyone has their mosquito repellents. They have two forms of it. So every precaution, I believe, have been taken when it comes to the mosquitos.”

The games village has been considered the biggest ever built for any games in the past and Colebrooke said all of the Bahamian athletes are enjoying themselves.

“They are spacious and they are comfortable,” he said. “All of those athletes who needed the extra space in the beds because of their height, they have been accommodated. So they are all comfortable. They are coming into the office every day and checking with the coaches to make sure that everything is in place for them.”

Three female athletes have opted not to travel here to compete because of injuries. They are hurdlers Devyenne Charlton and Adanaca Brown as well as Shaquania Dorsett, who is coming of an injury she sustained while at the IAAF World Junior Championships. Still not in the games village as yet are quarter-milers Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown and Michael Mathieu, hurdler Jeffery Gibson and high jumper Trevor Barry.

Colebrooke said they have requested permission to stay in their training camps closer to the start of the athletic competition in a week’s time and they were granted permission.