The Tribune

DOMINIC Demeritte, the last athlete to win the International Amateur Athletic Federation’s World Indoor Championships’ 200 metres, is now the latest Bahamian to enter the track and field coaching ranks at an American college - a role he relishes with enthusiasm.

Last week, Jayme Pendergast, the director of athletics at Life University, announced the appointment of the 1995 St John’s College graduate to the position of leader of the men’s cross country and men’s track and field programme in Marietta, Georgia.

“First of all, I feel humbled by it. I believe it’s only God who put you in certain positions, sometimes you can’t even explain,” Demeritte said. “My experiences led me to this point, so I am actually grateful to where I am in my life.”

Prior to accepting the job for the Running Eagles that he will officially begin on October 5, Demeritte did some private coaching of high school students, preparing them for college and he also managed a number of professional track and field athletes.

As a complement to what he did and what he’s doing now, Demeritte said he’s excited about making his mark in the Mid South Conference and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), an athletic association for small colleges and universities in North America.

“My expectations is that we come out and do some damage,” stated Demeritte, a 1999 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor of arts degree in economics and the University of Illinois in 2014 with a masters degree in recreation sports and tourism with concentration in sports administration.

“In the first few years, we hope to be a force in the conference and be able to challenge for the national title. I believe that I will be able to recruit the athletes from within the state, from the Caribbean and internationally. So I’m just looking forward to putting the pieces together and building my own image. I want them to come in and put in the work.”

In accepting his job alongside Nyles Stuart, who coaches the women’s programme, Demeritte joins a talented field of Bahamian coaches spread across the United States at various collegiate programmes.

“I am really humbled and I look forward to interacting with every one of them as the season progresses,” Demeritte said. “When I retire, I know I can look back at my years and reflect on the many accomplishments that I was able to achieve.”

The 42-year-old was welcomed to the coaching fraternity by Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown, who took over as the head coach of the men’s and women’s track and field programmes at Clayton State Athletics in Morrow, Georgia, on July 11, 2019. “It’s always great to see Bahamians making strides in their next part of their career,” said Brown who, unlike Demeritte, is still competing. “Dominic is a good friend of mine. He’s also been my roommate for many years (on the national team).

“We spoke after he got the job last week for a length of time and I’m glad to be able to see him transition to be the head coach of cross country and track and field at Life University, is tremendous. I congratulated him and really excited to see him in action.”

The two have agreed to assist each other when they begin hosting track meets at their respective colleges next year. Having raced against each other in the past, the 41-year-old Brown said it will be interesting to see how well their new programmes match up in the future.

With the sporting world being sidelined because of the coronavirus pandemic, Demeritte said he’s not going to let it deter him from his aspirations to make the best of his coaching chores.

“Everyone has to deal with it and so I’m not going to let it get the best of me,” he said. “I’m just following protocols and whatever my school says, I will have to abide by it because I’m not just responsible for my family, but also for some young student-athletes.

“Whatever it takes, I will make sure that they are prepared and ready to compete whenever sports returns to some sense of normalcy next year when track and field swings into full gear.”

Demeritte is married to Gianne, a 1998 graduate of St Augustine’s College and they are the proud parents of three children, Sanae, Saige and Grayson. He is the son of Charmaine Young and Don (Susan) Demeritte and he has two brothers, Devard and Devon, and a sister Dawn.

Before he ventured into coaching, Demeritte represented the Bahamas at two Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004 and he has also attended a combined seven IAAF World Championships indoors and outdoors.

At the 2004 World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Demeritte captured the gold in the men’s 200m, leaving him as the last champion as the event was discontinued because the IAAF felt that the competitor running in the outside lane had an unfair advantage over the rest of the field in the one-lap race.

It was Demeritte’s second medal at the championships as he improved from bronze the year before in the same event in Birmingham, Great Britain.

As the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ four-time 100m and seven-time 200m national champion from 1999-2005, Demeritte also won a gold in the Central American and Caribbean Games. He has produced personal best times indoors of 6.40 seconds in the 55m, 6.73 in the 60m and 20.66 in the 200m as well as 7.19m in the long jump.

Outdoors, his lifetime achievements were 10.36 in the 100m; 20.21 in the 200m; 47.28 in the 400m and 7.61m in the long jump.

At the Commonwealth Games in 2002 in Manchester, Great Britain, Demeritte ran on the Bahamas’ 4 x 100m bronze medal team after he placed fourth in the 200m. That same year at the World (Continental) Cup in Madrid, Spain, Demeritte was also fourth in the 200m and he ran on the silver medal 4 x 100m relay team.

11, 2019. “It’s always great to see Bahamians making strides in their next part of their career,” said Brown who, unlike Demeritte, is still competing. “Dominic is a good friend of mine. He’s also been my roommate for many years (on the national team).

“We spoke after he got the job last week for a length of time and I’m glad to be able to see him transition to be the head coach of cross country and track and field at Life University, is tremendous. I congratulated him and really excited to see him in action.”

The two have agreed to assist each other when they begin hosting track meets at their respective colleges next year. Having raced against each other in the past, the 41-year-old Brown said it will be interesting to see how well their new programmes match up in the future.

With the sporting world being sidelined because of the coronavirus pandemic, Demeritte said he’s not going to let it deter him from his aspirations to make the best of his coaching chores.

“Everyone has to deal with it and so I’m not going to let it get the best of me,” he said. “I’m just following protocols and whatever my school says, I will have to abide by it because I’m not just responsible for my family, but also for some young student-athletes.

“Whatever it takes, I will make sure that they are prepared and ready to compete whenever sports returns to some sense of normalcy next year when track and field swings into full gear.”

Demeritte is married to Gianne, a 1998 graduate of St Augustine’s College and they are the proud parents of three children, Sanae, Saige and Grayson. He is the son of Don and Charmaine Demeritte and he has two brothers, Devard and Devon, and a sister Dawn.

Before he ventured into coaching, Demeritte represented the Bahamas at two Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004 and he has also attended a combined seven IAAF World Championships indoors and outdoors.

At the 2004 World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Demeritte captured the gold in the men’s 200m, leaving him as the last champion as the event was discontinued because the IAAF felt that the competitor running in the outside lane had an unfair advantage over the rest of the field in the one-lap race.

It was Demeritte’s second medal at the championships as he improved from bronze the year before in the same event in Birmingham, Great Britain.

As the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ four-time 100m and seven-time 200m national champion from 1999-2005, Demeritte also won a gold in the Central American and Caribbean Games. He has produced personal best times indoors of 6.40 seconds in the 55m, 6.73 in the 60m and 20.66 in the 200m as well as 7.19m in the long jump.

Outdoors, his lifetime achievements were 10.36 in the 100m; 20.21 in the 200m; 47.28 in the 400m and 7.61m in the long jump.

At the Commonwealth Games in 2002 in Manchester, Great Britain, Demeritte ran on the Bahamas’ 4 x 100m bronze medal team after he placed fourth in the 200m.

That same year at the World (Continental) Cup in Madrid, Spain, Demeritte was also fourth in the 200m and he ran on the silver medal 4 x 100m relay team.