The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

A left muscle strain that prevented sprinter Anthonique Strachan from completing the final of the women’s 200 metres at the 17th Pan Am Games last week in Toronto, Canada, will also force her to skip the trip to Beijing, China, for the IAAF World Championships next month.

Strachan, the Bahamas national 200 metre champion, said she will need at least three weeks to regain her level of competitiveness after she sustained the injury in her groin area, so it was recommended by her coach Henry Rolle that she skip the Worlds.

The 21-year-old was contemplating running the 200m and on the women’s 4 x 100m relay team if they had qualified. “I don’t want to go there and embarrass myself or the country,” Strachan said.

Reflecting on the race when it happened as she was running out of lane eight, Strachan said she went blank because she felt she did everything she was supposed to do to be a contender for a medal.

“I never made it to the final in a major event because I never knew how to run the rounds properly,” she said. “I finally learned how to run the rounds and I was ready to compete.”

Instead, Strachan said she will have to wait and see how fast she can recover and get back on her feet again to run in a few meets in Europe after the Worlds before she starts to prepare for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“I’m really hurt because this year and next year is supposed to be my years to shine,” said Strachan, who is still looking for her senior breakout on the globe after winning the sprint double in the 100 and 200m at the 2010 IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain.

“I just hate when things don’t go the way I planned because I worked hard all season. I was actually working hard from (the last Worlds in Moscow) Russia when I didn’t make the final. I promised myself that I will make the final in Beijing and now I am not even going, I’m hurt.”

Rolle, Strachan’s coach in Auburn, said it’s unfortunate that she won’t be able to compete.

“Any competitive person will always be disappointed, but injuries are a part of the sport,” Rolle said. “When you’re not prepared or the body goes through so much stress, it will break down. Unfortunately that is what happened.

“The key is to move forward and to get ready, if not for the rest of the year, hopefully for the Olympic Games.”

As for the women’s 4 x 100m relay, Strachan said she wishes her teammates every success, although she won’t be able to line up with them, just like she had to skip in Toronto as her injury occurred just before they raced, placing seventh in the final.

“The same benefits they had and the same downfalls they had they will have it without me. I’m just one person and I won’t make that much difference to the team because if I’m 100 per cent or not, every leg is still going to give it their all,” she said.

“I have faith in them and they are fighters. Right now, everybody has to think about their legs and we will get it. They just have to qualify first and I know that they can do it when they go to NACAC. So I’m wishing them every success.”

Although she had a wrap on her leg, Strachan said she is doing all of the little things to get through her rehabilitation so that she can bounce back at full strength for next year.

“When I got the news, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear,” she said. “Everybody was asking me if I was going to be okay and I said ‘yeah it’s something small and I will be ready for Worlds.’ But it’s not something small because I won’t be going.”

While she will take a break from competition, Strachan will turn her attention to school as she continues her studies at Southern Union starting in August.