By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
LONDON, England: Just past the mid-point of the 16th IAAF World Championships, Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations president Rosamunde Carey said she's more than pleased with the performances she's seen from the 24-member team representing the Bahamas.
"I'm excited about it. Coming in, we knew that Stevie was going to be on the medal podium," said Carey during a team celebrations on Wednesday at Bahamas House, hosted by Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Michael Pintard. "We were prepared to take whatever medal.
"He said he was going for either of the two spots, gold or silver, so we were there cheering him on. He said he was kind of disappointed, had he ran how he ran in the semis, he would have been in gold. But we told him that as this was his first major competition, you're on the medal podium, and we as Bahamians are very proud of you. Whatever medal you have, we're grateful for it."
With five more days to go, Carey said the accomplishments so far will only set the tone for greater things to come from Team Bahamas.
"We had Botswana's general secretary and their president in the VIP said this was going to be an African sweep, but we told them that Stevie will have to be an African because he is going to be right in the mix," she said. "After the race, they said, only because Isaacs (Makwala) wasn't in it. That's the reality, we got a silver medal."
Makwala, having qualified for the final, was not allowed to compete after he withdrew from the preliminaries of the men's 200m because of illness. However, he was granted permission to run the 200m in lane seven by himself to see if he would advance to the semis. He did and came back later in the night to book his trip to the final tonight with Wayde van Niekerk, the South African 400m world record holder, who took the gold over Gardiner in the one-lap race.
The Bahamas had one competitor entered in the 200m, but Grand Bahamian Teray Smith didn't advance out of the qualifying round.
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