The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the announcement of the world’s fastest man coming to the Bahamas for the second edition of the IAAF/BTC World Relays next month, Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) president Mike Sands said the Local Organising Committee is now in full operational mode.

“Everyone is excited about what will take place over the next 21 days,” he said of the May 2-3 meet at the new Thomas A Robinson National Stadium. “I think the excitement is even more so with the Usain Bolt and the Jamaicans have announced his participation in this event.

“You would have heard us talk about Usain indicating that he wants to be a legend. I don’t know how much more of a legend he can be, but the fact that Jamaica holds the world record for the 4 x 100 and the 4 x 200 and Usain is not a part of that 4 x 200 team, so it’s his intention that his name is inked into the record books being a part of Jamaica’s 4 x 200 relay team here at the World Relays.”

Sands, who also serves as the vice chairman of the LOC, said American sprinting great Justin Gatlin has confirmed his participation, which should only help to boost the Bahamazing event should he get matched against Bolt on the anchor leg of the 4 x 200m relay.

At the initial World Relays last year without the services of Bolt, the team of Nesta Carter, Nickel Ashmeade, Julian Forte and Blake ran 37.77 for the gold in the men’s 4 x 100m. The team of Ashmeade, Warren Weir, Jermaine Brown and Blake sped to a world-record time of 1:18.63 in the 4 x 200m.

Sands is encouraging Bahamians to ensure that if they haven’t gotten their tickets to do so as soon as possible because there are very few tickets left in the gold and bronze sections in the grand stand on the western side of the stadium. But he said there are still a number of seats available in the general seating on the eastern side of the stadium.

As a result of Bolt’s announcement that he will be competing, Sands said there has been a spike in the sale of tickets, but he urged Bahamians to still check out the box office between the hours of 10am to pm daily and from 10am to 3pm on Saturday to make sure that they secure their tickets, which are also being sold on-line.

Not only will Bolt’s participation increase the public support for the Bahamazing event, but Sands said he believes that more high profile athletes like Gatlin will also be booking their tickets on their respective countries teams so that they can compete in this year’s event.

Like the case of Bolt, Sands said a lot of athletes were not certain about the Bahamas hosting the initial event, but after the word went back about the fantastic job that the LOC did with the IAAF, there is more interest from other athletes who missed last year to be a part of this year’s show.

All countries have until April 20 to submit their teams to the IAAF. However, Sands said there maybe one or two countries who could be added to the field of 47 countries and more than 1,000 athletes and coaches are already registered to compete as wild-card entries.

The Bahamas, however, will be hard-pressed to field its best team as a number of the top athletes may not be available because of their commitment to their colleges and universities in the United States. But Sands said they still have sufficient elite athletes and some junior athletes, whom the management team, comprising of Rupert Gardiner and Nathaniel McKinney, will be assembling to represent the Bahamas.

A number of athletes will be looked at this weekend when they compete in the University of Miami Invitational in Miami, Florida.

“We will be looking at the top six performances in each category and Team Bahamas will be named from the top six and it is our intention after that to go into a training camp,” Sands said. “A training camp does not mean that you go in there to get in shape, but it’s for their signage.”

In preparation for the relays, Sands said the BAAA will hold a test event April 17-18 and the team is expected to be announced on Sunday, April 19, just in time for the deadline for the IAAF final submission. He said the BAAA will be looking at some of the athletes who competed at the CARIFTA Games in St Kitts and Nevis where the Bahamas finished second.

This year’s IAAF World Relays will serve as a qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with the top eight finishers in both the men and women 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays advancing. Last year’s World Relays saw the top eight teams in those events qualifying for this year’s IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.

The only team from the Bahamas to qualify for Beijing was the men’s 4 x 400 relay, which placed second behind the United States.

This year, the LOC and the IAAF have agreed to remove the 4 x 1,200m from the calendar after Kenya made history by setting a world record in both events. The races have been replaced by the split medley and there will also be the 4 x 800m. But Sands said the BAAA is realistic in its selection process and may not be able to field a team in any of the distance events.

With so much excitement generated from the initial event, Sands said the LOC has identified what went wrong and they are working to correct those things that they didn’t do. He also said there are some new things they have on the agenda, but he doesn’t want to preempt what will take place.

A number of personnel from the IAAF are currently in town and will remain here until the event and will be working with the LOC at the test event to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible.