The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHE'S been holding her own as one of the top sprinters in the country for the past few years, but Tynia Gaither said she's looking for more.

Coming off two consecutive eight place finishers in the women's 200 metres at the World Championships in 2017 and 2019, Gaither said she would like to stamp her name on a final and possibly a medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan this summer.

At the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) New Life Invitational Track and Field Meet on Saturday at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida, Gaither got fourth in 23.10 seconds, the same time as third place finisher Jodie Williams of Great Britain, while Jamaican Elaine Thompson took the title in 22.54.

The 28-year-old Grand Bahamian also competed in the preliminaries of the 100m where she ran a wind-aided 11.19 for the sixth fastest qualifying time, but she didn't go on to contest the final that saw Thompson win in 10.87.

Looking at her performance in her preparation for the Olympics, Gaither, who has already surpassed the Olympic qualifying standard of 11.15 in the century, said: "I was happy with the 100 because I feel I'm starting to execute the race better and the time proved that as well.

"That was exciting, but I'm still not where I need to be as far as my fitness is concerned. My body is still feeling the effects of training in these meets, so it's still good that I was able to run 22-low even when I'm heavy, so I'm just looking forward to when I'm lightened up and just focused on doing what I need to do."

Although she's achieved the qualifying mark in the straight away race, Gaither said she really wants to achieve the feat in the half-lap race – by reaching 22.80.

"That's my baby, my pride and joy," said Gaither of the longer sprint races. "I'm not sure if I'm going to try the double again like I usually do this Olympics. I might just try to focus on one, which is the 200m. But we will see how these net few races go before we make a decision."

Training out of Houston, Texas under coach Eric Francis for the past three years, Gaither said she feel she's striding towards her goal, even though she's had one or two setbacks.

"I've had one or two injuries earlier this season, which is expected," she pointed out. But we will definitely be ready by the time the Olympics come around in July.

"The things that I need to do are not anything serious and right now I'm in the best mental state that I have ever been in, so we still have a lot of time for me to get what I need to be going into the Olympics. As long as I stay healthy, I'm good."

Still shy of the qualifying time for the Olympics in the 200m, Gaither said she's not sure when she can hit the standard, but she has a couple of meets, including the Bahamas Association of Athletic Association National Championships at the end of the month to get the job done.

"I hope to drop something big in the next couple of weeks," said Gaither, who indicated that if she doesn't come home to compete this weekend, she will more than likely go to the Dominican Republic for another meet there before the nationals.

Not just satisfied with making the final, Gaither said she's at the point in her career where she needs to put herself in a position to be able to challenge for a global medal.

"It's now or never," Gaither said. "I plan on going back to my training camp and doing what I need to do to get myself ready to do what I have to do for myself and for our country. I feel like I'm overdue. So we need to get that done by all means."

Once she can maintain her fitness to run a comfortable 200m for her qualifying time, Gaither said she will be in the right frame of mind going into Tokyo.

The coronavirus pandemic has not helped because she would have been sharper than she is right now, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, allowing her to get a break to regroup.

And one of the things she was even more impressed with was getting the opportunity to team up with hurdler Pedrya Seymour and rising young sprinters Denisha Cartwright and Paige Archer. Together they posted a time of 44.41 behind Trinidad & Tobago's winning time of 43.96.

"We had two sweet young girls in Paige and Denisha, who are willing to learn and they are hungry, so it was nice to mix and mingle with the younger girls," she stated.

"I feel that we did pretty good. We have room for improvement. I feel we could have easily ran 43, but with a little more practice, I think we can shock a lot of people. But we need more support financially to get us to compete at this level."

Gaither said the team just needs a chance to work together to get back to the glory days or close to what the Golden Girls achieved in the past.

"Keep pushing,” she said. “The time will come when the young girls we have out there can come and join us on the relay team and hopefully we can showcase our talent.

"It just takes time for us to remain vigilant and our time will come, once we get the support so that we can compete. We want to try to run again in the next few weeks, but money rule things."

In the meantime, Gaither is pushing forward with her goal of earning her a spot as a sprinter on the global stage.

She will need to surpass her lifetime best of 11.02, which she did to qualify for the Olympics in the 100m on April 24 in Miami and 22.54 from back on June 11, 2016 in Eugene, Oregon in order to achieve that goal.