The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedi.net

BEIJING, China — As one of the more seasoned jumpers in the world, Bianca ‘BB’ Stuart was hoping for a little more than she did in the qualifying round of the women’s long jump at the 15th IAAF World Championships.

The 27-year-old Pan American Games silver medallist came out of the qualifying round yesterday with a best leap of 6.34 metres just behind American Brittney Reese, who did 6.39m and was also eliminated from the final.

“Not good at all,” was how Stuart summed it up. “I think my first two jumps were kind of flat. I really wasn’t jumping off the board, but my last jump was well in the qualifying standard or close to it.

“They called it a foul, but when I saw the replay, I didn’t see my toes touch the foul board. Did you all see it? Did it look like a foul?”

Unfortunately, only the views of the judges on the sideline mattered and Stuart nor any members of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations filed any protest so her third and final attempt is recorded as a scratch.

“I feel healthy. I was ready to go and make it to the next round, but unfortunately it didn’t happen again,” said Stuart, who for the third time failed to advance out of the qualifying rounds. “But I will keep my head high and keep trying.”

As she looks ahead to the future, Stuart said she hopes to eventually get over the hump.

“I’m mentally tough. I’ve been here so many times, I feel like I’m so experienced that I know what to expect,” she said. “I trained very hard for this meet. I guess I just have to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to prepare differently for these championships.”

This championship was a rather special one for Stuart, who finally got to meet Shonel Ferguson, the former national record holder and 1982 Commonwealth Games champion from Brisbane, Australia.

Ferguson, whose record of 6.80m (22-3 3/4) stood for 30 years before Stuart erased it with her mark of 6.81m (22-4 1/4), is doing interviews for the IAAF Radio and she got a chance to interview Stuart.

“I really didn’t know who she was until she introduced herself to me,” said Stuart about the formal meeting of one record holder to another.

“It was a nice interview. She is really nice,” Stuart said. “I was actually surprised. I didn’t know she was here. I didn’t know until she stopped me and introduced herself. So it was a great opportunity to meet her and I hope we can continue to communicate.”

For Ferguson, the meeting was just as mutual.

“It was fabulous. I watched her rounds and she came so close. That last jump was just so close. Had she got that, she would have qualified quick easily,” Ferguson said. “Then when you get to the final, anything could happen.

“I think this year at the World Championships, the long jump competition is wide open. It’s anybody’s to win. I feel if she had gotten in, she would have had a chance as everybody else. But I was very, very proud of her. I had a few words with her and I think she has the stuff to go on and be on the podium at one of these championships.’

During their conversation, Ferguson said she encouraged Stuart to keep her head high because she vividly remembered when she was competing, she was basically the lone ranger for the Bahamas in the event.

“The Americans have so many people, the British have quite a few and around the world, there are countries with a depth of jumpers,” she said.

“The Bahamas only has Bianca. So the end of my career, people like Daphne Saunders and Jackie Edwards came along and they carried the torch pretty much by themselves, but you really need somebody else to feed off.”

With the experience she has gained so far, Ferguson said if she had another competitor from the Bahamas to feed off, the sky will be the limit for her.

Already to her credit in addition to the Pan Am silver achieved in July is a CAC Games bronze and two gold and a bronze from the CAC Championships.

But Bianca, coming off an impressive season prior to the championships, is hoping that she can advance to her first final at the Olympic Games when she goes to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next summer.