The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

OVER the last week I’ve lived on two extremes. On one end I was convinced that, without a shadow of a doubt, had Shaunae Miller wanted to, she should have been allowed to run; and on the other, no one person is bigger than the entire team.

Reading the local dailies and run of the mill social media commentary, it is safe to say that I haven’t been the only one battling with this.

Days before she stunned the sporting world with her thrilling dive for Olympic gold in the women’s 400m, reports surfaced that Miller was being barred from participating in the 200m race. Those reports, all unsupported and speculative, failed to present a clear discussion of the matter.

In some of the reports, Miller, over-enthused with social media calls for her to attempt the feat, approached the BAAA and BOC officials with the premise of competing in the race. Other reports were that Miller never made her interest known and had she done so, the possibility existed that she could replace Sheniqua Ferguson in the 200m heats.

Over the weekend, Miller broke her silence, claiming she had in fact wanted to attempt the 200m race.

“I wanted to go for the double. Through consultation with my coaches we though it would be good to bring home two medals for the country. The opportunity was there to bring home two medals for the country and we wanted to go for it,” she said.

However, she continued: “They made the decision to go with what was already in place so that was the end of it. It is what it is. I was really disappointed. It was something that something that I really wanted to do, but it is what it is.”

This is where the entire story took a turn for the bizarre and left most, even myself, lost for words and angered on two levels.

“They made the decision to go with what was already in place so that was the end of it.”

That line, on the face of it, doesn’t say much. But when placed in the context of rumours in the days leading up to the race, it is easy to support the view that ‘Shaunae tried to big time the team’.

This is where the historians among us will provide a diatribe on why one must follow rules and play to a prescribed role.

Tynia Gaither, Anthonique Strachan and Sheniqua Ferguson, all ranked lower on the IAAF’s world ranking heading into the Olympics, comprised the list of qualifiers offered by The Bahamas. Miller, the world’s third-ranked 200m sprinter, was listed as substitute.

Yes it was bizarre, but as she admitted just days before the race, she was focused on the 400m.

In June, speculation was that Miller would compete in the 200m, 400m and 4 x 400m relay in Rio. However, her list of events quickly dwindled and she didn’t even offer herself up at national trials.

“Based on the competition at the trials, it was clear how we were going to proceed. For all intents and purposes, this wasn’t an issue going into the Olympics,” Olympic Team sprint coach George Cleare told The Nassau Guardian.

So if it was clear then, what changed?

Back to that Shaunae quote: “Through consultation with my coaches we though it would be good to bring home two medals for the country. The opportunity was there to bring home two medals for the country and we wanted to go for it.”

There it is, finally!

On the ground in Rio, after discussions with her coaches - not team coaches - Miller decided that she would compete for the double.

I was always of the belief that skill dictates stardom, and stardom dictates treatment. I subscribed to the idea that if the top guy slips up in practice it’s cool as long as he brings it on game-day. If he wants to take a playoff that’s okay, as long as he goes hard in the waning moments.

That was always my stance on the matter until now. These Olympic Games and the actions of Team Bahamas has shifted the way I view this behaviour.

Team Bahamas in Rio, on the merit of quality athletes and great performances, improved on its performance in the 2012 London Olympics.

A team is only as good as its weakest link, whether that link is an average player near the end of the rotation or a star player who refuses to buy into the team’s message.

I am not insinuating that Shaunae is a ‘diva’, nor am I saying believes she is bigger than the entire team. This also isn’t me endorsing Team Bahamas as the epitome of a great programme, because it certainly is not.

My point here is that no one person should ever supercede the team. For success to be sustained over time, the programme has to take precedence over any one individual.

Olympians come and go, some are good, few are great. But, at some point, they all walk away - what is left?

The Team.

It takes time to build success.

Comments and responses to rwells@tribunemedia.net