The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

RIO de Janeiro, Brazil — Although they won’t be competing until next Friday (August 19) when the preliminaries of the women’s 4 x 400 metre relay will take place, quarter-miler Lanece Clarke said she’s making the most of the days she has to spare at the 2016 Olympic Games.

“Seeing that this is my first Olympics, I’m trying to grasp every bit of it as I can,” she told The Tribune yesterday in the Games Village as they go through her maiden voyage at the Olympics. “Each day we go out on our free time to try and experience all of the things that they have to offer for the athletes.”

While she can be called an Olympian, Clarke said there’s no better thrill for her than to have been able to rub shoulders with some of the world’s best athletes who have achieved and accomplished a lot more than she has.

“I feel really privileged to be among them all,” she stated.

Clarke, along with Carmiesha Cox, Shaquania Dorsett and Christine Amertil, had to wait until the court of arbitration ruled against the Russian relay team holding onto their spot in the top 16 in the world because of a widespread doping violation on the part of their country before the Bahamas was finally ushered in as one of the teams to compete here.

However, the team will be without the services of Dorsett, who got injured during the IAAF World Junior Championships. As a result, sprinter Anthonique Strachan and quarter-miler Shaunae Miller have been added to the relay pool.

The 28-year-old Clarke, who has ran with all of the ladies mentioned above, said they are now gelling as a team.

“Everybody is in sync with each other, we’re building a unit. Everything has been going good,” she said. “Everybody is happy, everybody is comfortable. That’s the most important thing.”

With about a week to go before they compete, Clarke said she has been sticking to her training routine, trying to stay relaxed and as happy as she can be.

“Each day, if I have a free time, I try to come out and experience all of the new things that they have for the athletes,” she said.

After falling short of qualifying for the women’s 400m, Clarke said she would be very proud sitting in the stands at the Olympic Stadium as she watches Shaunae Miller go after the Olympic gold.

“Always, like everybody else, I’m looking forward to some fast times and I’m also looking for everybody to be healthy,” she said. “As for my team-mate, who will be competing, Shaunae, I’m looking for her to medalling and doing the best that she can.”

Clarke’s training partner, national record holder Steven Gardiner, is also competing in the men’s 400m, starting with the heats today.

Clarke, a 2009 graduate of McKendree University, is also wishing the Abaco native a lot of success as he makes his Olympic debut as well.

“I know that he’s going to do the best he can, as long as he stays healthy,” she said.

As for her own personal goals, Clarke decided to put the focus on the team.

“The ultimate goal is to go out there and make my country proud,” she said. “I want all my girls on the relay team to stay healthy so that we can make it through the first round and get into the final.”

Once they are in, Clarke said it’s proven that any and everything is possible.