The Tribune

The fate of the Bahamas and athletics have always been intertwined as it has taken a strong foothold as the nation’s most popular sport. This year will not only mark the 41st anniversary of Independence for the country but also the 60th anniversary of the Bahamas fielding its first national team for international competition.

The quartet of Thomas A Robinson, Irrington Issacs, Leonard Dames and Cyril Johnson comprised the historic team of sprinters which competed in the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada.

It seems only fitting that six decades later, the Commonwealth Games will again be at the forefront of Bahamian track and field, simultaneously symbolising how much the sport has developed yet remained connected to the country’s roots as a Commonwealth nation.

Since its inaugural appearance at the Commonwealth Games, the Bahamas has only missed the Games of 1974 and 1986, winning the vast majority of its medals on the athletics track.

Sir Arlington Butler, one of the Bahamas’ most iconic sporting and political figures, has been integral to the Bahamas Commonwealth Games involvement and will be awarded the Order of Merit by the Commonwealth Games Federation at the XX Commonwealth Games, which run from July 23 to August 3 in Glasgow, Scotland.

“The Bahamas began in the Commonwealth Games 60 years ago,” Sir Arlington said. “I am pleased to know that two members of that first team are very much alive and very willing to be present at these Games because it is important that in our development we have watched our people grow from non-involvement into high involvement in the Games.

“This is important because as we have grown as a country, we have grown in track and field. There was a time when we had just about 15 to 20 countries competing and we did not have the strength to medal at these games. But you look around and see that is very different today.

“And some of those countries that struggled to medal then, we have surpassed them as well. We are in good company and we have done well to the benefit of our people and we have given them a lot to be proud of and alot to aspire toward.”

The Order of Merit is awarded for distinguished service to the Commonwealth Games movement, including the Games themselves, to the federation and to a Commonwealth Games Association.

It is the second time in as many years that Butler has been recognised by an international sporting body after he became the first Bahamian to receive the Pierre de Coubertin Award, one of the most highly regarded awards given by the International Olympic Committee.

“I have had a good relationship with the Commonwealth Games Federation since my first meeting in Jamaica in 1966 and I have watched it grow. I have been around for quite some time and I am very pleased to have seen many who have been the beneficiary of my involvement and my love for the Games. There are lots of things I am proud of that have happened during the 50 years I have been involved,” he said.

“Bahamians have always held the Commonwealth Games in high regard because it gave us such a sense of pride to see our athletes shine on the international stage in those days. I think that pride continues because even in the modern era we have seen some wonderful performances at the Commonwealth Games from our Olympians and the like. I would hope that the team will have some results that will be comparable to be winning this award.”

The Bahamas National Olympic Committee has been recognised by the IOC since 1952 and is the body responsible for the management of all Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games matters in the Bahamas.

Bahamas Olympic Committee President, Wellington Miller, said that for the 60th anniversary of the Bahamas’ inaugural appearance at the Commonwealth Games, the BOC will field a large, talented and diverse team in a record number of disciplines - six - in Glasgow.

“We will be joined by wrestling and judo this year along with our other core sports the public expects, boxing, track and field,” Miller said. Cycling and swimming will also be represented.

At the Delhi 2010 Games, the Bahamas contested four disciplines and won a total of six medals – four in athletics and two in boxing. The Bahamas has won a total of 31 medals in 13 Commonwealth Games appearances.

Sir Arlington Butler called the 1982 team “the best ever” when the Bahamas fielded seven athletes and won six medals.

Miller said the transformation of the country in the track and field arena has been a great sense of pride for every Bahamian as they look to exceed the country’s Commonwealth Games record haul of eight medals won in 2002.

“The Bahamas has a long history of participation in the Commonwealth Games. We in the Bahamas Commonwealth Games Association (BCGA) remain exceedingly proud that it was our own past president Sir Arlington Butler who was instrumental in promoting the name change from the British Commonwealth Games to just the Commonwealth Games as it is known today. We can all agree that this makes the Games more easily owned by all.”

BCGA Vice-President Roy Colebrook has again been named as the chef de mission for Team Bahamas travelling to Scotland after a successful outing in the post in 2010.

Not just in governance, but in the pageantry of athletic events like the Commonwealth Games, the Bahamas remains very connected to the United Kingdom.

The BCGA, the Commonwealth Games Federation and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture hosted Queen’s Baton through the streets of New Providence in April.

The Queen’s Baton is a symbol of the Commonwealth Games which tours all Commonwealth countries in preparation for each staging of the quadrennial Games and bears a sealed message from the Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II. 

The message remains within the baton until it reaches its final destination at the start of the Games, when it is shared with all assembled.

The Queen’s Baton arrived in the Bahamas on Good Friday and was formally greeted by local Games executives including Miller, BOC Secretary General Romell Knowles, and Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis.

The Bahamas began its foray into the Commonwealth Games as an upstart nation represented by a few relative unknowns who grew to become giants in the sport. Now, as an independent nation, the Bahamas has built upon that tradition of excellence rather than allow the Games to become a mere anachronism.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games team includes Olympians, future Olympians and some of the most influential names in Bahamian track and field - a feat that the previous generations of Bahamians envisioned when they sent the original quartet to Vancouver in 1954.