The Tribune

WHILE they wait on the final decision on two important matters, the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations is preparing to host two of its major National Championships next month.

BAAA president Rosamunde Carey indicated that no final decision has been received from the tribunal on quarter-miler Steven Gardiner and the suspension of one of its athletes who tested positive for drugs.

But she said that while they wait for the outcome, the association is forging ahead with the preparation of its Junior and Senior National Track and Field Championships.

Carey, in an interview with The Tribune last week at the Frank Rahming National Primary School Track and Field Championships, said they are looking forward to some keen competition at the upcoming events.

Youth and Junior Nationals

The combined event is set for the weekend of June 15-16 at the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium.

“We have combined the youth and junior nationals so that we can get more participation and competition from the athletes,” Carey said.

The championships will serve as a qualifier for the IAAF Junior World Championships, scheduled for July 10-15 in Finland, and the Youth Olympic Games, scheduled for Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 11-23.

Senior Nationals

The big event is scheduled for June 22-23 at the new Thomas A Robinson National Stadium. “We expect all of our elite athletes to participate in this event,” Carey said. “Even though this is considered an off year, we have a number of international events coming up that we have to field teams to compete in.”

The championships will serve as the qualifier for the Central American and Caribbean Games, set for Barranquilla, Colombia, July 20 to August 3 and the NACAC Senior Championships in Toronto, Canada, August 10-12.

For the first time, NACAC will be offering prize money for the top finishers in the championships, which is expected to boost the participation of the top athletes in the region to compete.

Gardiner’s Decision

Although a tribunal was convened from August to ascertain why Gardiner refused to run in the heats of the men’s 4 x 400 metre relay at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London, England, Carey said no decision has been reached nine months later.

“We’ve asked the tribunal to come up with a definitive date on the outcome of their findings,” Carey said. “We know that he’s in his competition cycle and we don’t want to disrupt his programme.”

Carey, however, refuted any allegations that the BAAA has suspended Gardiner, indicating that they don’t know what the final decision will be made by the tribunal. “We know that the tribunal was scheduled to meet with the head coach (Dianne Woodside-Johnson), relay coordinator (Rupert Gardiner) and the athlete himself (Steven Gardiner), but we have not gotten anything definitive from the tribunal.”

Just before the preliminaries of the relay, Gardiner had ran a national record of 43.89 seconds to advance to the final where he went on to win the silver medal.

He had indicated that he would have been prepared to run in the final if the team had qualified. In his absence, the team of Alonzo Russell, Michael Mathieu, Ojay Ferguson and Ramon Miller failed to qualify for the final.

Carey, who was in attendance at the championships, also dispel any rumors that Gardiner was seeking his green card from the United States so that he could end up competing for that country.

“We are not aware of that,” she said. “We know that Steven Gardiner is a Bahamian and is competing for the Bahamas. He has not said anything otherwise to us.”

Suspended Athlete

As for the athlete who was suspended by the IAAF for taking a banned substance, Carey said the athlete in question is still under suspension.

Following their participation in the IAAF World Relays last April at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, the A sample from one of the sprinters on the men’s team came back positive.

“It’s a process and the athlete is still going through the process,” Carey stressed. “The athlete has to exhaust all of the process that is available to them. including having their B sample provided at their own cost.

“The athlete suspended remains suspended until the process is exhausted. As it stands now, the Athletes Drug Integrity Unit that overseas drug testing and disciplinary actions has not given us any decision.”