The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

WITH the second edition of the IAAF World Relays on the horizon for the Bahamas, the prospective lineup of stars at the event has already become an eagerly anticipated issue with the meet still months away.

In 2014, some of track and field’s most well known names opted not to compete, most notably Usain Bolt, prompting LOC CEO and vice chairman, Mike Sands, to address the early indication of this year’s field. “We anticipate a number of the top world-class athletes will be present, we will be in a position to tell you that definitively once the final entries are in,” he said. “At the end of the day we have gotten an indication that there is a keen interest that those that were not here that they want to be present this time around because of the success of 2014.”

Tickets go on sale today for the meet scheduled for May 2-3 at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

Sands, who is also president of the BAAA, said this year’s event will have even greater significance with the pending IAAF World Championships this season and the 2016 Rio Olympics on the horizon.

“The World Relays will serve as a qualifier for the World Championships and for some athletes that meet is more important than the Olympic Games. It will also serve as a qualifier for the Olympic Games in Rio so this event is very significant to the athletes and countries participating,” he said. “It is not too often at this level that countries have an opportunity to really put their teams together because they go on to individual performances as is their profession. So when they have an opportunity to try to get their qualifying out of the way so we anticipate this meet to be more significant for that reason.

Irrespective of who takes the track, he added that public support is the first step in ensuring the Bahamas can host the event to the standard set in 2014 and now expected by the global track and field community.

“We were very pleased to be awarded the event for 2014, 2015 and 2017, because our athletes are always competing on the world stage outside the Bahamas. We as Bahamians have become so accustomed and so proud of seeing our athletes compete on the world stage now they have the opportunity to see them compete on their home soil,” he said.

“When they compete around the world and you’re not sure how many Bahamians are in the stadium, but you can be assured in this 15,000 seat stadium we hope that at least 10,000 of that are Bahamians.

“We as Bahamians must get involved, take our national pride and our numbers in support of our athletes so they can have an incentive to perform on the world stage but at home.”