The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Two finalists, one sparked by a national record-breaking performance, along with a pair of injuries highlighted the Bahamas team’s appearance at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The nine days of intense competition, which saw the Bahamas fail to win a medal and didn’t have any team entered in the relays competition, came to a close yesterday.

Devynne Charlton, improving on her sixth place finish at last year’s championships in Eugene, Oregon, came so close, but was fourth in her quest to get on the podium in the women’s 100 metres hurdles.

She advanced to her second straight final, fuelled by lowering her new national record time to 12.44 in the first round. The Commonwealth Games silver medallist from last year did 12.49 in the semifinal, but her time of 12.59 kept her out of contention for her first global medal.

The other finalist was Anthonique Strachan, who breezed through the first round of the women’s 200m in a victory in 22.31. She did 22.30 for third in her heat and the eighth and final spot to get into the final.

The double sprint World Junior Championship from 2012, in making her first global final as a senior athlete, celebrated her 30th birthday with a sixth place finish in 22.29.

Tito Moss, the assistant team leader and track coach for the team, summed up the Bahamas’ performance overall as a mixed bag of results.

“Obviously, the two best performances were by Devynne Charlton in reaching the women’s final in the 100m hurdles and finishing fourth, followed by Anthonique Strachan making her first major world championship final by placing sixth,” Moss said.

“These were the highlight performances for the Bahamas, but we also had some injuries to LaQuan Nairn in the men’s long jump and Steven Gardiner in the men’s 400m.”

Notwithstanding what transpired with those athletes, Moss said the Bahamas can also be proud of the efforts by Charisma Taylor in the women’s triple jump, Rhema Otabor in the women’s javelin and Shakeem Hall-Smith in the men’s 400m hurdles, who made their debut on the global stage.

He also noted the tremendous effort by Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who competed in the women’s 400m by virtue of getting a bye as the defending champion. But four months after delivering her baby boy, Maicel Uibo, she didn’t advance out of the first round.

Alonzo Russell also failed to advance out of the first round of the men’s 400m. “We had some very great performances and we had some heartbreaking injuries and then we had some athletes who got their feet wet.”

Moss said the management team was hoping to get at least a medal or two, but they settled for the national record by Charlton and it showed that there’s a ray of hope going into the Olympic Games in Paris, France, in 2024.

The Bahamas also had a chance to compete in the women’s 4 x 100m relay, but the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations opted not to take a team because they felt there were not sufficient women to make up the team. As a member of the BAAA executive board, Moss said he would have loved to have seen the women’s team, and even the men’s team, compete at the championships, if they had gotten the opportunity.

“The competition was keen, but I think this would have been a good building block to get us ready for the World Relays in 2024 in Nassau,” said Moss about the event.

The World Relays returns for the sixth edition after the first three were held in 2014, 2015 and 2017 before moving to Yokohama, Japan, in 2019 and staged last in 2021 in Chorzow, Poland.

Next month, Moss said the BAAA, headed by president Drumeco Archer, will hold their conclave when they will lay their foundation in regards to getting their pools ready for the World Relays, which serves as a qualifier for World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. “We will also identify some competition early for the potential Team Bahamas to participate in to be as sharp as possible for the World Relays,” Moss said.

“We believe that the 4 x 1 men, the 4 x 1 women as well as the mixed 4 x 4 relay team will give us the highest chance of qualifying for the Olympics. But that does not mean that we won’t contest the 4 x 4 for both men and women.”

Moss said they will also be communicating with the collegiate coaches to ensure that they have access to their athletes who have the potential to compete on these relay teams next year.

Once they host their conclave, Moss said they hope to solidify their plans going forward as they reflect on the past performances from the World Championships.