The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

RETURNING from a brief break to have a baby, Shaunae Miller-Uibo along with Steven Gardiner, back after an injured season, will lead an 11-member Bahamian team to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The duo, who have been the anchor of the Bahamas teams for the past decade, will both compete in the 400 metres at the championships, scheduled for August 16-27. They were named to the team, released by the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations, over the weekend, that included five females and six male competitors.

In addition to Miller-Uibo, the other female competitors are sprinter Anthonique Strachan, high hurdler Devynne Charlton, versatile Charisma Taylor and javelin thrower Rhema Otabor.

Gardiner heads the men’s team that include fellow quarter-miler Alonzo Russell, sprinter Terrence Jones, veteran high jumper Donald Thomas, long jumper LaQuan Nairn and hurdler Shakeem Hall-Smith. Leading the Bahamian delegation will be Laketah Charlton, who will be assisted by Tito Moss, the track coach. Corrington Maycock will be the throws coach; Keir Miller will travel as the Team Doctor and Pharez Cooper will be the Physio/Therapist.

While there will be no head coach selected to the team, Moss said the management will combine to carry out the duties collectively for Team Bahamas.

“I think we have a very talented team, obviously led by Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Steven Gardinwer and also anchored by Devynne and Anthonique,” Moss said.

“We a;so have some talented up and coming athletes like Terrenced Jones and Charisma Taylor, Shakeem Smith and NCAA javelin champion Rhema Otabor and the ageless wonder in Donald Thomas “

:Looking at the make-up of Team Bahamas, Moss said it’s a good balance with a mixture of youth and veterans, which should translate into a number of finalists and possibly the best showing with a couple of medals.

“We just hope that our athletes remain healthy and be ready to compete,” said as they BAAA continue to prepare for the team’s travel on Monday, May 14th for their arrival in the Games Village in Budapest on Tuesday, May 15th.

“This is the World Championships where you will see the best of the best. It’s a year before the Olympics and judging from the performances we’ve seen internationally to date, it’s going to be a hotly contested meet in all of the events.”

In her return since the birth of her son, Maicel Uibo Jr on April 30, Miller-Uibo has only competed in the BAAA’s Nationals in July where she contested the heptathlon.

She’s been given an invite to compete as the defending champion of the 400m from the last championship held in 2022 in Eugene, Oregon. The two-time Olympic gold medalist looks to be in good shape from the gruelling multiple events for the one-lap race heading into Budapest.

In her absence, Strachan has been the sprinter to watch for the Bahamas on the international scene where she ran a personal best of 10.92 in the 100m in the Oslo Diamond League on June 15th and 22.15 at the Rabat Diamond League on May 28th in her marquee event. Both times have her pegged just outside of the top 10.

Charlton, a seventh-place finisher at the Eugene World Championships and a silver medalist at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England last year, has a season’s best of 12.64 from the Jones Memorial from April 15 in the women’s 100m hurdles, placing her in the top 15 in the world this year.

Taylor, coming off her NCAA collegiate season that featured the 100/100mhurdles and the triple jump, will be contesting the latter event where she soared a personal best of 48-10 (14.88m) at the indoor nationals on March 11 for the fourth best mark in the world.

Otabor threw a personal best of 195-2 (59.49m) on June 8 when she became the second Bahamian to win the NCAA Outdoor Championship title in the women’s javelin behind national record holder Lavern Eve. She is not=w listed in the top 40 in the world.

As expected for the men, Gardiner, who didn’t compete in Oregon because of an injury, qualified for the championships where he posted the world’s leading time of 43.74 in Gyulai Memorial on July 18.

The Abaco native, who holds the Bahamas national record in the 200 and 400m, will be joined by Grand Bahamian Russell, who is tied with Brazil’s 400m ghurles specialist Allison dos Santos with identical times of 44.73 in July and April respectively.

Jones, a fellow Grand Bahamian who was named in a proposed suspension from the BAAA after the NACAC Under-28 and Under-23 Championships, has a double top ranking in both the 100m and 200m after he equaled the Bahamas national record of 9.91 on April 15 and clocked 19.87 at the NCAA Championships in June.

It’s not known which of the two he will contestor if he will run the double at the championships.

Thomas, another Grand Bahamian who ascended the top of the medal podium with his gold in the men’s high jump in Osaka, Japan in 2007, will be back for another appearance in his signature event.

Thomas, the elder statesman of Team Bahamas at 39, has yet to hit peak form, soaring a season’s best of 7-5 1/4 (2.27m) at the New York Grand Prix on June 24 that has placed him just outside of the top 20 performance list.

But the Bahamian multiple national record champion always finds a way to be a contender when the showdown begins at the global competition.

With his breakout year last year at the Commonwealth Games gold medalist in Birmingham, Egland, Nairn has cleared a season’s best of 26-7 1/4 (8.11m) at the Lausanne Diamond League on June 30 that has him outside of the top 20.

A newcomer to the international ranks, Smith has been making waves throughout Canada as a double hurdler this year. He did 49.25 in the 400m hurdles, the event he would more likely contest in Budapest and has a wind-aided time of 13.71 in the 110m hurdles.

Keyshawn Strachan, the national record holder, got off to a blistering start to his collegiate freshman year at Auburn with a 276-5 (84.27m) at the Texas Relays on March 31, but an injury prevented him from competing in his first World Championships.

Kendirck Thompson and Ken Mullings, the dynamic decathlon duo, were hoping for at least one invite this year, but they both fell short of making the cut. Last year, Mullingsd made it to Eugene, while Thompson went to the Commonwealth Games.

And with the Bahamas preparing to host the return of the World Relays next year, the women’s women’s 4 x 100m relay team qualified for the championships at the NACAC Championships in Grand Bahama.

But Moss said although the Bahamas was sitting in the 15th spot, the BAAA opted not to take the team because “a number of persons who would have been able to be used on that team, would have had conflicts competing.

“As you know, Tynia (Giather) was not able to compete this season and Anthaya (Chalrton) shut down her season, so when we looked at who and what was left in terms of fielding a team, it was determined that it would be best if we did not contest the 4 x 100m for women.”

The men’s 4 x 100 nor the 4 x 400m teams qualified and neither got an invite to be one of the top 16 teams to compete in the championships, which does not bode well going into the World Relays here next year.