The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It was a return to Moore’s Island where it all got started for Olympian Steven Gardiner four years ago.

Gardiner, the 20-year-old national 400 metre record holder, returned to his birthplace in Abaco last week following his appearance in the Diamond League Race the previous weekend in Zurich, Switzerland, where he finished in a two-way tie for fourth place in the men’s 400m with Nery Brenes of Croatia with 10 points.

Gardiner, coming off his semi-final appearance in the men’s 400m and a bronze medallist on the men’s 4 x 400m relay at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last month, placed fifth in Zurich in 45.66 as American LaShawn Merritt ran away with the race in 44.64.

Merritt, the bronze medallist in Rio, won the title with 50 points. His nearest rival was Grenada’s Bralon Taplin with 24. Isaac Makwala of Botswana was third with 20. Republic of South Africa’s Wayde van Nirkerk, who set a world record in picking up the gold in Rio, along with silver medallist Kirani James from Grenada, didn’t compete.

Last week during his visit home, Gardiner headed over to Moore’s Island where he reunited with his first coach Anthony Williams. For the two years of his career, Williams had Gardiner running the 400m before he was turned over to George Cleare, who then converted him to the 400m.

“It was a great joy to have him. He’s such a manly and humbled young man,” Williams said. “He came over and spent the day with us. He walked around town and had lunch with us. We all remembered how he was a little puny fellow and now he has grown up to be a man.

“My wife was very excited to see him because he lived with us for the two years that we had him before he came to Nassau. So it was a great feeling for all of us on the island to walk around with an Olympian and a bronze medallist.”

During the visit, Gardiner was able to display the medal he won as a member of the men’s 4 x 400m relay team, running the fastest split on the third leg. The Bahamas team, comprising of Alonzo Russell, Michael Mathieu, Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown and Stephen Newbold (who ran in the heats instead of Mathieu), finished behind the United States of America and Jamaica in Rio.

During his Olympic debut, Gardiner also contested the men’s 400m, but fell short in the semi-final. He competed along with Russell and Brow, who both failed to get out of the first round.

“I’m very impressed with his progress so far, but I know that he still has a long way to go,” Williams said. “I think this split of 43.7 on the relay will inspire him to do even better. I was impressed with his improvement and I know and I’m looking for some bigger and better things from him in the future.”

Although he’s no longer a part of the programme, Williams is still grooming more athletes in Moore’s Island to replace him.

“I think the athletes here will be even more determined to train harder and compete now that they have seen him,” Williams said. “They believe that if he can do it coming out of Moore’s Island, then they can do it too. Some of them were able to touch the medal he had around his neck and so they want to achieve the same goal that he has accomplished.”

Williams was hoping that by now, the new facilities being built in Moore’s Island would have been completed. In conjunction with a private firm headed by Nick Dean, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture was to assist the community of Moore’s Island with the construction of the facility that included a dormitory and a track and field surface.

“The dormitory is under construction right now and we are hoping that it will be completed soon,” Williams said. “We have the new students coming in for the new school year and they are staying with me. A lot of them are in grade nine, which gives me more time to work with them rather than having them come in at grade 12. So I think it’s going to be better for us.”

In the meantime, Williams said the residents and the student-athletes are all pitching in to get the dormitory completed.