The Tribune

WORLD Athletics president Lord Sebastian Coe felt that they made the right decision in bringing the World Relays back to the Bahamas where it gave birth at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in 2014.

As he made his trek around the stadium during the final of the two days of competition on Sunday, the two-time Olympic Games 1,500m gold and 800m silver medallist for Great Britain said the Bahamas put on a spectacular show in hosting the World Relays for the fourth time.

After hosting the initial one in 2014, the Bahamas played host to the next two editions in 2015 and 2-017, but passed up on the opportunity for the fourth in 2019, which went to Japan.

Poland hosted the last one in 2021. It’s expected that the seventh edition will go to China in 2025 and then it’s back to the Bahamas in 2027.

Coe, who in 2015 was elected president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, which has since been changed to World Athletics, said the atmosphere in the stadium spoke for itself.

“The hospitality is beyond comparison and the athletes raise their game when that happens,” said Coe of the newly renovated stadium, which also included a brand new track.

“We want to be in venues where we have lots of people, they are knowledgeable and passionate and that is what we got here.”

During day one of the competition on Saturday, the top two teams in each heat advanced to Sunday’s final and also automatically qualified for the Olympics. The teams that didn’t make it got a second chance to come back in their heats to earn their berths.

“The first day was terrific, which is what we wanted, head-to-head competition,” Coe said.

“Teams were coming here knowing that there was more at stake than it’s ever been before.

“You could see the excitement with teams who booked their tickets to Paris (Saturday) on that track.”

While there are a lot of countries who have put in bids to host the World Relays in the future, Coe admitted that they would like to adopt the Bahamas as the home of the event, but that will be up for further discussion.

“We feel very much at home here,” he insisted.

One other consideration that will be discussed, according to Coe, is if they will continue to use the World Relays as a qualifier for the Olympics, as they did for the first time this weekend.

“In the past, we’ve had relay championships, so there have been a sort of display,” he pointed out. “This time, teams have come here knowing that they have to perform and they have to perform at their best in order to get to the Olympic Games.”

The Local Organising Committee for the event also produced a show that was second to none in the six editions.

And like they did when they first introduced athletes for the finals behind a large curtain behind the starting line of the 100m in 2017, the athletes were introduced this time as they mounted a large stage on the infield and descended to the starting points for each relay.

With the help of the rhythmic sounds of the junkanoo music, the concept was well received and had a lot of athletes talking about the way they were so impressed with the treatment they got that they went the extra mile to compete at their best.

“I think it’s been a good addition,” Coe stressed. “It’s been a good part of the innovation.”

World Athletics not only offered cash prizes ranging from $40,000 for first place to $2,000 for eight place to the teams in each final, but they also awarded the top 14 spots for teams for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France in August.

The Bahamas, with the combination of Steven Gardiner, rookie Shania Adderley, Alonso Russell and Shaunae Miller-Uibo clinched the only spot for the Bahamas at the Olympics with their national record breaking performance in winning their second round of the mixed 4 x 400m relay on Sunday.

They joined the remaining teams that included Belgium, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain & NI, Ireland, Jamaica, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States.

The Bahamas also fielded teams in both the men and women 4 x 100m and the men’s 4 x 400m but fell short of qualifying.

Here’s a look at the teams that did book their tickets to Paris in the other relays.

Women’s 4 x 100m - Australia, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Great Britain & NI, Italy, Jamaica, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.

Men’s 4 x 100m - Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain & NI, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa and the United States.

Women’s 4 x 400m - Belgium, Canada, France, Great Britain & NI, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

Men’s 4 x 400m - Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain & NI, India, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.