The Tribune

THE dispute surrounding Team Bahamas’ list of entrants for the women’s 200m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has reached a tipping point just days before the athletics competition gets underway in Tokyo.

The Bahamas Track and Field Coaches Association voiced their displeasure at the fact that Anthonique Strachan was registered as a reserve and not a qualified participant for the aforementioned event.

The opening round heats of the women’s 200m are set for the morning session of Sunday, August 1 at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.

Strachan was the last of team Bahamas’ quartet (Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Tynia Gaither, and Brianne Bethel) to achieve the qualifying standard when she finished second to Miller-Uibo in 22.76 seconds at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Track and Field Championships in June.

Bethel and Gaither did not compete in the 200m at the BAAAs Nationals but ran faster than Strachan’s qualifying time in races earlier in the season.

When the Bahamas Olympic Committee named the team earlier this month, BOC President Romell Knowles said the three fastest qualifiers automatically earned the right to a lane. Knowles further added that the rules of the BAAAs do not apply to the BOC. The difference in protocols and procedures to determine qualifiers has the organisations at a standstill.

Coaches Association representative, Ednal Rolle, said the decision to name Strachan as a reserve disenfranchises an athlete who fulfilled her requirement to earn a spot. “According to the BAAAs, the substantial local governing body for track and field, in The Bahamas, all athletes are required to participate in the nationals and qualify for their respective national teams to represent The Bahamas. Once an athlete has qualified, these athletes are named to their national team. Ms Stachan is one of two women to participate in the 200m and qualify at the BAAAs nationals,” Rolle said. “We know before the scratch meeting you can make the changes. We are asking the coaching staff of the Olympic Team to do the honourable thing and put Anthonique Strachan in the 200m. We wanted this resolved before they went to the Olympics. Tynia is about to run the 100m and I can only assume that is the reason she is not doing the runoff. That shows us that this staff can use their discretion. I want to beg that they will do the honourable thing and put Anthonique where she rightfully deserves to be and has done all that is required of her by the federation that represents her. You cannot have the coaches and athletes do what they are asked to do and have this as the end result. Why is she being denied?”

Rolle said a vote of no confidence in the current BAAAs executive will be put forth due to a lack of adherence to the Olympic charter and ignoring the given recommendations.

“We the coaches met to discuss the position of Anthonique being named a reserve and not an automatic qualifier as in the case of Shaunae Miller-Uibo.

Both women competed in the 200m at the trials with qualifying times placing first and second. We, the coaches then requested a meeting with BAAAs board to have this position changed as we deemed this to be unfair,” he said. “It was agreed that we the coaches would be allowed to make a recommendation through the BAAAs to the BOC on the position of the women’s 200m and then the BOC would accept this recommendation. We recommended that Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Anthonique Strachan be listed as the participants, given the results of the BAAAs nationals. We the coaches further recommended for the other two qualifiers namely Brianne Bethel and Tynia Gaither, who did not compete in the 200m at the BAAAs nationals, would have a runoff to determine the third and final spot in the event.”

The team manager in Tokyo is Dawn Johnson with Rudolph Ferguson as the head coach for athletics, assisted by Ronald Cartwright, Rupert Gardiner, Dave Charlton and Rochelle Bastian.

The Coaches Association sent what Rolle deemed a “strong” letter to the Tokyo management staff on the matter as a last resort. Johnson, who served as the Coaches’ Association Treasurer, and Ferguson, who serves as its Vice President, resigned their posts shortly thereafter.

Rolle said he also advised Strachan not to participate in a “run off” for one of the three spots for the 200m as she has already earned a spot via her second place finish and qualifying time at the nationals.

“They represent us as coaches, they knew what our position was, it was not a secret. We were not informed of any decision after we went our recommendation we thought this thing was over. To hear of this news while the team is over there, we saw this as an insult. As a last resort, our only option was to write a letter to the coaches. We were getting no communication from the BAAAs, we were getting no communication from the BOC so our last hope was that members of the Coaches Association would do the honourable thing,” Rolle said. “If anything, the other two girls who did not compete should run off. The coaches in Tokyo will have to use their discretion as to who they are going to allow to have that third spot because Anthonique who qualified and ran at the nationals should not have a run off with anybody. It’s just unfair.”

A communication from the BOC said the recommendation was sent in late and the decision would be up to the management.

“We have no confidence in this BAAAs executive board and we do not trust the BOC,” Rolle said. “The Coaches Association received several documents yesterday from the BAAAs and the BOC. We must note that this documentation should have been provided in a more timely manner and could have made it a more amicable and less public display in a show of “athletes first” the BAAAs, BOC, and we the coaches, and also the track and field community. Our position remains that Anthonique Strachan is listed in the 200m and we the coaches find the current BAAAs executive board ineffective in its role representing the membership and ultimately a vote of no confidence is forthcoming.”

Ultimately, Rolle said the qualifying process should be streamlined with all stakeholders involved operating under the same rules and standards to determine qualifiers. According to the Coaches Association, the BAAAs operate under the guideline where the competitors at nationals who achieve the qualifying standard will be ratified for national teams, while the BOC suggested the three fastest times over the course of the year earn their spots. “You have a window within a year for people to qualify. [The BOC President’s] position is that it is unfair to have athletes run a faster qualifying time and not be granted the opportunity to represent their country.

“As we know throughout the world in all of these other countries you have a trial. If an athlete qualifies throughout the year, they may qualify under one condition, somebody else may qualify under another condition so to have a fair playing field you have to have a trial. All qualifiers can contest that event under the same conditions,” Rolle said. “In this case, we can only have three. Shaunae and Anthonique ran at the nationals. If you don’t compete in your desired event, you stand a chance to lose your position if a person qualifies and that is what happened.”