The Tribune

THE Bahamas finished the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a high note on Saturday when they claimed a bronze medal in the final track event, the men’s 4 x 400m relay.

While it wasn’t a repeat of the gold they took so thrilingly in London four years earlier, it was another trademark fast and gutsy performance, with the veteran Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown running a valiant last leg to claim third place in his fifth and final Olympic appearance.

Brown, 37 and the men’s team captain in Rio, finished off the good work of Alonzo Russell, Michael Mathieu and Steven Gardiner and held off Belgium and Botswana for the bronze medal as the United States regained the gold ahead of Jamaica.

The Bahamas’ time of 3 minutes 58.49 seconds was a season’s best and their medal the fourth in Olympic men’s relays. It was the country’s second medal of the 2016 Games, following Shaunae Miller’s gold in the women’s 400m.

Brown said it was a great feeling to get back on the podium. “We went out there and we gave it our best. A lot of people didn’t believe that we could do it, but we came through and it’s better to go home with a bronze than to go without anything. So I’m very pleased with the way the guys performed,” he said, dedicating the medal to Demetrius Pinder, the only member of the relay squad who did not get to compete.

Two medals, two national records and five appearances in a final left Bahamas track and field head coach George Cleare thrilled and left the Bahamas tied for 51st overall in the Olympics medal table while finishing 14th in the athletic competition.

Several tributes were paid to the relay team yesterday, with Free National Movement leader Dr Hubert Minnis praising “our Bahamian Bronze Brothers” for their “fantastic mix of youth and experience to capture Olympic glory”. He said the team had displayed “the heart of a champion” as “lap by lap, during the race, each of our boys carried the prayers, relentless spirit and the hopes and dreams of the Bahamian people”.

Former Attorney General Alfred Sears, QC, said the team had overcome the daunting weight of expectations in the face of unimaginable pressure. “The Bahamas 4 by 400 metres men’s relay team held their composure, bided their time and, when the moment was right, they struck,” he said. “The result is Olympic glory, and once again, The Bahamas has scaled heights other nations can only imagine or dream of. To win a bronze medal at the Olympic games is a feat few can claim.”

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