The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Fresh off their banner year in 2017, talented Bahamian quarter-milers Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Steven Gardiner continued their trend by turning in fantastic times in their indoor debut for 2018.

Over the weekend at the 111th running of the NYRR Millrose Games in New York, Miller-Uibo clocked 35.45 seconds to tie the world indoor 300-metre record that was set by Irina Privalova of Russia in Moscow in 1993.

Her performance came after Gardiner erased his own meet record in the men's 300m at the Birmingham Crossplex Arena in Birmingham, Alabama in a time of 32.51 last month. His previous record was 33.45.

While Miller-Uibo's time is the fastest posted so far this year on the women's side, Gardiner is sitting in second place on the men's list behind Oscar Husillos of Spain, who has run 32.39.

The 300m is not an event that will be contested at the 17th International Amateur Athletic Federation's World Indoor Championships in Athletics, scheduled for March 2-4 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

However, the 400m will be one of the 14 disciplines on the two-day event.

And as the event draws near, their manager of On Track Management, Inc's Chief Executive Officer Claude Bryan, shed some light on their participation for Team Bahamas. "Gardiner is a no, but as for SMU (Miller-Uibo), we will not know until on or around February 12," Bryan said.

Miller-Uibo, standing at 6-feet, 1-inch, is the reigning bronze medallist from the 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships that was held in Sopot, Poland in 2014, finishing behind American gold medallist Francena McCorory and Jamaican Kaliese Spencer.

Gardiner, who finds it more difficult at 6-2 to run the tight bends in the two-lap race, has never competed indoors. Veteran Chris 'Fireman' Brown emerged as the silver medallist in the men's race behind Czech Republic's Pavel Maslak and ahead of American silver medallist Kyle Clemons.

Should both Miller-Uibo and Gardiner opt not to compete at the Worlds, where the Bahamas is expected to field a men's 4 x 400m relay team, Bryan said they would continue to focus on the 2018 season.

"Given their talent, the entire team around them and their commitment to hard work, it would not be a surprise to see them exceed their 2017 performances," he stressed.

Miller-Uibo, who began the year getting married to her college sweetheart, Estonian decathlete Maicel Uibo on Paradise Island, lowered her national record in the women's 200m by becoming the first Bahamian woman to dip under 22 seconds in the 200m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in 21.91.

In an unusual race, Miller-Uibo broke the 200m straight world record with a time of 21.76 on June 4 as she erased the previous mark of 22.55 that was set by her arch-rival Allyson Felix on May 16, 2010.

And she attempted to become the first female to win the 200/400m double at the IAAF World Championships in London, England, Miller-Uibo slipped from glory to fourth place in an unpredictable finish in the 400m before she came back and settled for the bronze in the 200m.

Miller-Uibo, 23, added the medal to the gold she won at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016 and a bronze she collected at the World Championships in Beijing, China in 2015.

She also teamed up with Gardiner, Anthonique Strachan and Michael Mathieu to ink the Bahamas name on the first mixed 4 x 400m relay ran at the IAAF World Relays at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium last April.

Last year was also a break out year for Gardiner as a professional athlete, ending his campaign on a high note at the World Championships with a silver medal in the 400m, two days after he became the first Bahamian male to dip under the 44-second barrier with his national record-breaking performance of 43.89 in the semi-final.

Gardiner had a chance to collect a hefty cash payday at the 2017 IAAF Diamond League, but he failed to finish the men's 400m, while Miller-Uibo went on to claim the two titles in the 200 and 400m.

As for Miller-Uibo's latest accomplishment, Bryan put it in perspective this way:

"I'm ecstatic more so for SMU (Miller-Uibo)," he pointed out. "It represents a continued reward for a confluence of industry and talent."

What's next for the duo?

"They will continue training with the Commonwealth Games being on both their radars," Bryan disclosed.

The Commonwealth Games is set for April 4-15 at the Carrara Stadium in Carrara, off the Gold Coast in Australia.