The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

LONDON, England — For Amara Jones, there’s no greater feeling than to be a part of Team Bahamas at the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Grand Bahamian native who attends Savannah State has been added to the list of seven women trying out for six spots on the 4 x 100m Relay team.

Whether or not she is selected, Jones said she’s making the most of her appearance in London.

“It’s been going good. The opening ceremonies were awesome. I just wished we had seen it live,” she said. “I wished we could have walked in first and then they had the pre-ceremony because I heard it was a good history lesson. But the village is very nice. I think they’ve done a good job in accommodating everyone so nice. I feel like I’m back at home.”

Jones, a graduate of Sunland Baptist where she excelled in the sprints before moving up to the 400 metres, said if there’s one thing that she’s had to deal with, it’s all the food that they’ve been serving in the games village.

“I like to eat, but I like to eat the stuff that I like to eat,” she said. “I do slip and go for the nuggets every so often, but that’s only when I can’t find something that I like. When they have curry I’m there. I think they might have had oxtail one day. Chicken. Definitely chicken breast whenever they have it because chicken has a lot of protein. And they have good breakfast and stuff like that.”

Aside from the food, Jones said she got a chance to see American 400 metre champion Sanya Richards, whom she hails as her role model.

“I also met Kobe (Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, who is playing with the USA men’s basketball team),” she said. “I told him that I can’t play basketball, but he’s really good at it. I was like a kid at a basketball game. It was so much fun.”

Looking at the atmosphere in the games village, Jones said she was “surprised to see everybody being so friendly. It makes her feel like she’s right at home.”

But Jones said that she knows the Olympics requires so much time and effort and she’s been trying to cope with it all in her hectic training sessions.

“I feel great,” she said. “Obviously this is the last meet of my season, so I’m hoping that I get the opportunity to go out there and run and that we go out with a bang. I would like some hardware.”

In what is considered her break year meet, Jones said the words Olympic medallist will definitely look good on her r�sum� as she gears up for what she hopes will be a long and illustrious career in the future.