The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE track and field season might have been long over and done with for a number of Bahamian athletes, but Olympic double competitor Charisma Taylor did one more meet.

At the inaugural Athlos NYC in the Ichan Stadium in New York on Thursday, Taylor, sporting a new shaved bald hairdo, contested the Toyota women’s 100m hurdles, finishing sixth in a time of 13.58 seconds.

The first race of the all-women competitors was won by Puerto Rico’s sensation Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the Olympic bronze medallist, in a new stadium record of 12.36 as she earned the first Tiffany crown presented to the winners. She also earned a hefty pay cheque of $60,000 for her winning performance. 

Alaysha Johnson placed second in 12.48, Olympic champion Masai Russell was third in 12.44 and Tonee Marshall was fourth in 12.51. Veteran Danielle Williams got fifth in 12.56.

The inaugural Athlos NYC invitational was the first female-only premier track event and was funded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, featuring 36 of the top track stars in the world.

“I felt honoured to be a part of any event like this,” said Taylor, who was a last-minute replacement for the meet. “I hadn’t really been practicing.

“I was just getting ready to start my off-season training, so when I got the call to be a part of the event, I went for it because I knew I would be a part of history. I’m a competitor so I always want to put my best foot forward in anything I do. I tried to do that.”

While each of the six winners carted off $60,000, which doubled the Diamond League $30,000 for first place for the final, athletes finishing second and third collected $25,000 and $10,000 respectively. Fourth through sixth got $8,000, $5,000 and $2,500.

Athlos NYC also pledged 10 percent of all event revenue distributed evenly among all of the competitors. In the start, Taylor got off to a great start and was in contention with the other five competitors until in the middle of the 10 flights of hurdles, she stumbled a bit and wasn’t as sharp as she should have been.

As the race winded down and the top performers surged ahead to the front, Taylor faded slowly at the end of the spectrum and wasn’t able to hang with the field. She said the start made a world of a difference in her outcome. 

“Before the gun went off, there was a little bit of twitching and so I thought they would call back the race,” ‘Taylort said. “That sort of messed up my style.

“At my age, I should just be doing what I always do, but I saw the twitching. I have to blame this one on me because I can’t blame anyone else for my race.

“Im hurdles, if you start off, especially for me who is a seven step competitor, once your step is off, it;s makes it that much harder to do what you want to do.”

Despite not finishing in the top three, Taylor said she was pleased to be a part of history as the race organizers treated them like queens..

“We had photoshoots and special interviews and tours that they took us on,” she reflected. “It was very nice to be treated the way they treated us.”

Taylor, still looking to secure a major shoe o=company deal like most of her fellow athletes, said she will head back into the lab to get ready for the 2025 season, which will include the World Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

“I can’t wait to compete in 2025,” stated Charlton about her off-season. “This is all a stepping stone to get ready for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”

As for her bald hairdo, Taylor said she developed alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair to fall out, for almost four years and she tried to hide it with wigs and scarves.

“But being home for the past few weeks, I just decided that I want to embrace it and show that it doesn’t define me and I’m beautiful with and without hair.

“So I decided that I will just cut off the little bit of hair that I had left and embrace my new style. I’m loving it and I’m more confident because of it.”

Note: Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair to fall out, often in clumps that size and shape of a quarter. The amount of hair loss is different for everyone. 

Some people lose hair only in a few spots, while others lose a lot. For some, hair grows back but falls out again later. In others, it grows back for good.