The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHE is being touted as one of the heir replacements for the “Golden Girls.” In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, sprinter Tynia Gaither will get a chance to prove her worth as she represents the Bahamas in both the women’s 100 and 200 metres at the Olympic Games.

Over the weekend, Gaither got a glimpse of where she’s at going into the games - scheduled for August 5-21 - as she competed in the American Track League’s meet in Atlanta, Georgia.

She contested the 200m where she turned in a third place finish in 23.16 seconds to trail the American duo of Jenna Prandini, the winner in 22.42 and Phyllis Francis, the second place finisher in 22.50.

Gaither, a 23-year-old native of Grand Bahama, was one of two Bahamians competing in the meet as sprinter Shavez Hart won his heat of the men’s 100m in 10.29 for eighth place overall and was fifth in the half-lap race in 20.57.

“It was good for me to get to see where I’m at and to start competing as a professional athlete and making a little bit of money too,” said Gaither, a graduate of the University of Southern California.

“I was running with a slight injury, but I got a chance to run through it and it felt quite fine, so I’m looking forward to going to Rio and doing the best that I can to represent the Bahamas.”

In Rio, Gaither will be doubling up in the 100 and 200m, becoming the first Bahamian to accomplish the feat since Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, now a member of Team Bahamas as an assistant coach.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Gaither, who has posted a personal best of 11.19 for fourth in the 100m and 22.54 for fifth in the 200m over the weekend of June 9-11 in Eugene, Oregon, at her final appearance at the NCAA Championships.

After going on to clinch the sprint double at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Association’s National Championships June 24-25 at the new Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, Gaither said the Bahamian public could expect for her to put her best foot forward.

“This is the Olympics, something that we have all been working very hard towards competing in,” Gaither said. “So I would love nothing better than to go to Rio and perform at my best. If it’s getting into a final, I will take it.

“I know that the competition is going to be stiff because this is where the best in the world will come to compete. But I’ve been preparing myself for this opportunity and so I just want to go there and do the best that I can do.”

She didn’t want to put any limitations on herself, but Gaither said if she can get in a little more work to fine tune her skills over the next few days leading up to the games, she will be in a good position to make an impression for the Bahamas.

And while she has been working out with her personal coach, Gaither said having veteran “Golden Girl” Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie travelling to Rio as a member of the coaching staff, she really helps to make a difference for Team Bahamas.

“I’m really excited that she will be there as a coach,” Gaither said. “I look up to her as a role model and I’m so glad that I will get a chance to spend some more time to get to know her because I really believe that she has a wealth of experience to pass onto us.”

Gaither, however, said she’s a bit disappointed that she won’t get a chance to compete with Ferguson-McKenzie on the women’s 4 x 100m relay team.

“We had a chance to qualify, but we didn’t. It just wasn’t our time,” Gaither said. “I think if we had a chance to run in a final event, we would have been able to do it. I honestly feel that we had a team that could have accomplished it.

“But it didn’t happen for us this year, but we still have a chance to do it in the future. I’m just sorry that we may not be able to do it with her, but she has been there and I know that she will continue to be there to work with us.”

Without the relay team competing, Gaither said she would be leaning on Ferguson-McKenzie for as much support and expertise as she can to glean from when she pursues the sprint double in Rio.

Gaither, a silver medallist at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, said she’s going to make the best of her Olympic and senior international debut for the Bahamas.