The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN the same year that she duplicated her feat as the Austin Sealy winner for the most outstanding performance at the CARIFTA Games, sprinter Anthonique Strachan went on to pull off the 100/200 metre double at the IAAF World Junior Championships to earn the year-ending IAAF Female Rising Star of the Year.

It was a year that was supposed to propel Strachan to international stardom on the professional ranks, following in the footsteps of Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, the previous Bahamian Austin Sealy winner in 1995 in the Cayman Islands who went on to enjoy a successful career.

Capped with a series of injuries, including undergoing a few minor surgeries, Strachan has struggled to get back on the podium as she made her transition from the junior to the senior ranks. The year 2012 would have been termed her best year, starting with her dominance at her final appearance at CARIFTA Games in Bermuda.

As she added the 200m title to her collection of the 100m crown for the second consecutive year in Bermuda, following her accomplishments the year before in Kingston, Jamaica, Strachan also won her final match-up with Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who emerged as the Austin Sealy winner in 2013 here at home.

“I remembered when I first won it in 2011, it came after I was supposed to run the two events on the team in 2010 in the Cayman Islands, but I did the 200m,” Strachan said. “I came back the next year in Jamaica to win it all. I wanted to prove to everybody that I was fast enough and capable of making any team.

“And when I did it again in 2012 in Bermuda, I knew that I was ready to be the best, not just at CARIFTA but at the World Juniors because I wanted to prove to everybody that I should have been on the team that year. It was a great year for me.”

With the CARIFTA Games returning to the Bahamas for the eighth time this weekend at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, Strachan had some words of advise for the 80 members, who will be carrying the Bahamian flag over the Easter holiday weekend.

“Just go out there and do what your coach tell you to and don’t be pressured by it,” Strachan said. “It’s going to be a wonderful experience for the athletes who will be competing for the first time and just because of the fact that it will be home. So enjoy every moment of it.”

Unfortunately, Strachan won’t be home to watch as she did in 2013 when Miller-Uibo followed Strachan as the sixth Bahamian to win the prestigious Austin Sealy award, joining the list that was started by Maryann Higgs in 1978 here at home; Lavern Eve with the first back-to-back feat in 1982 in Jamaica and 1983 in Martinique and Pauline Davis in giving the Bahamas the first of three-peat performance in 1094 here at home as well.

Strachan, 24, will be in the Gold Coast, Australia for the 2018 Commonwealth Games that will run from April 4-15. In fact, Strachan should have already been ‘Down Under’ getting acclimated to and continuing her training regime with the Jamaican national team.

Since last November, Strachan has been in Jamaica training in the MVP Track Club at the University of Technology. But after she didn’t get her electronic visa waiver in time to travel to Australia, she had to remain behind in Jamaica.

“I’ve been training with the athletes who have been left behind in Jamaica because I didn’t get to travel with their team so I could continue my training there in preparation for the games,” said Strachan, who at the time of the interview had just received her visa.

Strachan is now preparing to leave Jamaica today and should get into Australia on Wednesday, ahead of the start of the games. Hopefully, she feel it will give her sufficient time to get acclimated and ready to compete in the 200m and on the women’s 4 x 100m team.

“It’s almost 30-40 hours of flying to Australia so the Jamaican team left early to get over the jetlag and compete in one of two meets before the games start,” Strachan said. “As a part of their training camp, I was going to be included in what they did if I had gotten the visa in time.

“I haven’t ran any race for the year because when they had a meet earlier this year, my hamstring was acting up and I had to come home to renew my passport, so I haven’t had a chance to compete yet.”

Strachan, who joined Sheniqua 'Q' Ferguson in the MVP camp that is led by Jamaican Olympic and world champion Elaine Thompson, said after moving from Auburn University where she trained previously with Bahamian Henry Rolle, the environment in Jamaica has been more conducive for her to prepare for the reminder of what promises to be an exciting future.

“I get to train with Elaine and what people don’t know is that she is a beast,” Strachan said. “Rain or shine, she’s out there training every day. She work so hard that it is unbelievable. It just makes you want to go out there and train harder than I have done in the past.

“You are in a world class atmosphere where they pay more attention to what you are doing. So it makes feel like if they can do it, I can go out there and become the next world class athlete that excel in the sport. I think I was lacking that atmosphere in Auburn. To see that I’m training with a world champion, who is ranked number one in the world, I know now that I can do it too.”

Coming off the slight hamstring injury, Strachan said she’s eager to get into Australia to start her quest to get back to the prominence that she was coming out as a Rising Star of the IAAF in 2012. She said she’s learnt a lot of life changing lessons that she help her to live up to the expectations that were ahead of her,.

“Man make plans, but it has to be the will of God for those plans to become a reality,” Strachan stated. “I believe that God was preparing me for what is to come, so I’m going to continue to put my trust in him to take me through the future for whatever he has in store for me.”

Not putting any pressure on herself, Strachan said she just want to go to Australia and prove that she can and is still a contender in women’s sprints and with the environment that she’s in, she’s comfortable that she will be able to accomplish her lofty goals.

“This is going to be my first 200m for the year, so I’m not putting too much expectations on myself,” Strachan said. “I’m just going to go out there and try to progress through the rounds and hopefully I try to get into the final. If I can achieve that goal, I would be very satisfied.”

At the games, Strachan will also have relay duties with Miller-Uibo, TyNia Gaither, V’Alonee Robinson and triple jumper Tamara Myers.

“I always like to represent our country in the relays,” Strachan said. “So I’m looking forward to running with this team. I think we should be very well.”

As for the rest of the 21-member team, including 19 from track and field, that will represent the country, Strachan said it’s small, but she confident that they will perform very well in Australia. She’s just excited to be a part of another national team at a global event.