The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHEN she looks back at her performance at the 16th International Amateur Athletic Federation’s 16th World Championships, the one word that comes to mind of Grand Bahamian sprinter Ty’Nia Gaither is “amazing”.

For a first time competitor, she surprised herself and made Bahamas history when she joined Shaunae Miller-Uibo as the first two Bahamian females to reach the final of the 200 metres.

While Miller-Uibo went on to become the bronze medalist in a time of 22.15 seconds behind Dutchwoman Dafne Scheppers, who successfully defended her title in 22.05 and Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who posted a national record of 22.08, Gaither finished eighth in 23.02.

But for Gaither, it wasn’t so much the time or the position, but the fact that she made her breakthrough in her rookie season on the professional circuit after graduating from the University of Southern California a year ago.

“I could do nothing but smile and be grateful because this was my first one, my first professional season, I got a new coach, still transitioning, trying to get used to a programme and I was able to do that,” she reflected.

“I’m very satisfied.”

The 24-year-old Grand Bahamian, sponsored on the international scene by Addidas, is being trained now by Darrel Wilson in Austin, Texas. She said she is in the right place at the right time.

And having experienced what she did at the championships, running through the rounds, Gaither admitted that she gained a lot of mental strength.

“I know that I belong now,” she said. “I feel like that was what I needed the most, just to know that I belong out there competing against the best.”

Gaither said she’s looking to possibly compete in one or two more meets before she closes the account on her impressive season.

“I’m not sure, yet. hopefully something will happen,” she stated. “I’m going to sit down and have a talk with my agent. Hopefully something will happen. I don’t know just yet. But whatever comes through, I know I will be prepared for it.”

So far, Gaither said she would have acknowledge that it’s been an “up and down” struggle for her to transition from college to the pro ranks.

“I’m a very independent person, so it’s been good to finally do some things on my own. I’m comfortable with that,” she declared. “But at the same time, it’s been very rough physically just trying to get back into top shape that I was in my college season. So I have to say it’s been ups and downs.”

If there’s any lesson that Gaither felt she learnt during the season and even at the championships, it’s the fact that it’s all on her to accomplish her goals.

“You have to put in the work and you have to want it,” she stressed. “If you don’t want it, it’s not going to happen. I went out there wanting it very badly. Despite all of my obstacles, I wanted it and I came out with an eighth place finish.”

Shedding tears of joy as she came into the mixed zone to talk to the reporters after the final, Gaither said she was so delighted that she got into the final that she didn’t know how to celebrate her achievement.

The championships, however, ended for Gaither when the women’s 4 x 100m team that she anchored, didn’t get to finish after the exchange between Carmiesha Cox and Janae Ambrose never connected. The team, which also featured Devynne Charlton on the first leg, was disqualified.

Obviously peeved about the way the coaching staff put the team together at the last minute, Gaither said it put a damper on her championships, but it won’t affect her going forward because she did what she set out to do - get into the final of her individual event in the 200m.

“I felt like I did okay. I feel like there will be more in the future for me,” she projected. “Next time I think I will be in the money.”

While this was her first appearance at the World’s, Gaither represented the Bahamas at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last year where she made it to the semifinal. Last year, she also contested the 60m in the World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, but she didn’t advance out of the heats.

As a junior athlete, Gaither made her international debut for the Bahamas at the Carifta Games in the Cayman Islands in 2010, picking up a silver in the 200m and another on the women’s 4 x 100m relay team.

That same year, she also competed at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada – reaching the semifinal. She closed out the year as a silver medalist at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Sinapore.

The following year, Gaither went to Kingston, Jamaica for her second stint in the Carifta Games, coming in fifth in the 100m.

Coming into the championships, Gaither had her season’s best time of 22.71 that she ran at the inaugural Grenada Invitational on April 4 to qualify for London. When she left, she was the eighth ranked 200m runner in the world.

As the runner-up to Miller-Uibo at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Track and Field Championships that were held in Grand Bahama in June, Gaither still has a personal best of 22.61 that the 5-feet, 2-inch speedster hopes to improve upon in the future.

Gaither, who also claimed the national title in the 100m, has a PR of 11.21 that she posted in Los Angeles in 2015.