The Tribune

AN Olympic legend and an award-winning film director have teamed up for an emotional breast cancer television advertisement.

Two-time Olympic sprint gold medallist Pauline Davis-Thompson is the star of a new commercial promoting the Susan G Komen Bahamas Race for the Cure event in January.

The commercial, dubbed “Never Alone”, will circulate on social media this month. It details Mrs Davis-Thompson’s journey to the top and the challenges she encountered along the way. The commercial, which will be shortened for television audiences, also features several student athletes from Davis-Thompson’s track club.

Sunshine Insurance (Agents & Brokers) Ltd is the lead organiser and sponsor of Komen Bahamas. Marketing Co-ordinator, Rogan Smith, who wrote the advertisement, explained what she wanted to capture.

“The minute Pauline signed on to do the commercial, I knew that I had to highlight her struggles and draw parallels with those battling cancer. Even though one is clearly more serious, there are a lot of similarities. There’s a lot of loneliness in the athletic world and it requires a lot of mental toughness because there are so many moments when they feel like giving up; they feel alone. Someone fighting cancer experiences similar sentiments. However, what they might not realise is that someone is always in their corner rooting for them and as with anything, you have to take it one day at a time and never allow yourself to drift in that mental space where you want to give up,” said Ms Smith.

Directing and producing the commercial is noted director and Icon Award winner, Lavado Stubbs, who is also the owner and creative director of Conch Boy Films, a boutique production company.

“I heard about the Susan G Komen Bahamas event through the media in the past and its many promotional outlets.,” Mr Stubbs said. “I was approached by the marketing team this year to participate and I am honored to be a sponsor this year.

“In the commercial, I wanted to capture the essence of never giving up. Pauline Davis is our country’s double gold Olympic medallist and is a prime example of someone who never gave up. In the video, I created a black and white environment and isolated the colour pink throughout the video, which is symbolic with the pink ribbon that represents breast cancer awareness,” said Mr Stubbs.

“Pauline Davis’ battle to achieve those Olympic gold medals is parallel to those that battle cancer. Therefore, I wanted this video to merge both worlds and motivate anyone to be a part of this powerful Susan G Komen event and truly race for the cure.”

Mrs Davis-Thompson competed at five Olympic Games for the Bahamas. She won her first medal at her fourth Olympics - a silver in the 4 x 100m relay in Atlanta in 1996 - and her first gold medals in Sydney four years later aged at 34 in the 4 × 100m relay and the 200m.

Ms Smith thanked Mr Stubbs for delivering a “stellar” commercial. “We have had good commercials in the past, but this one just blows them all away. He is so meticulous with the production and so easy to work with. I honestly screamed and cried when I saw the ad; it was that good. We can’t thank him enough for coming on board,” she said.

Komen Bahamas has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local cancer charities since its inception.

The 2017 race - which is part of the Sunshine Insurance Race Weekend (SIRW) - will take place on January 14, 2017 at 7am starting at the Montagu foreshore. To register, visit www.komenbahamas.org.