The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MAICEL Uibo is enjoying the festive celebrations he's experiencing with his wife, Shaunae Miller-Ubo, and Steven Gardiner. He's not sure what level of reception they will receive when they head to Estonia next month.

Uibo is in town with his wife as she and Gardiner were celebrated by a series of events organised by the Bahamas Olympic Committee last week for their performances at the 17th IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Gardiner clinched the men's title in the men's 400 metres, a day after Miller-Uibo and her husband claimed the silver in the women's 400m and the men's decathlon respectively.

"It's always nice to be home. I call this home. So it's nice to be here at home. I haven't been here for a while since the season is long," said Uibo, who got married to Miller-Uibo in 2017 at Atlantis and have been training here when they are not in Clermont, Florida.

As the first Estonian to win a medal in the decathlon at the global international meet, Uibo said he's not sure what the estimated one million people will do for him and his wife when they head there.

"A lot of my Estonian training partners are saying that they are a bit jealous because we pay a lot more attention to the athletes over here than we do in Estonia," he said.

"But I guess we will have a few celebrations to attend when we get there, but I don't think it would be anything like what we do here. We will see what is in the works."

Estonia, a country on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe, is hard to compare to the Bahamas, according to Maicel, who met his wife while they were both studying at the University of Georgia.

Miller-Uibo, however, thanked the Bahamas Olympic Committee and the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations for hosting the celebrations for them.

"We really do appreciate it," she said.

When asked about what type of celebrations she can expect when they travel to Estonia, Miller-Uibo said her guess is just as good as her husband's.

"I guess we will find out when we go down there," she said.

"It's a beautiful place. We always enjoy going back there and spending time with his family and celebrate with them. So we will see how it goes."

As the new world champion - only the second Bahamian male to earn that feat behind Avard Moncur - Gardiner said it has been a lot of fun parading around town with the Uibos. "They are my neighbours, my best friends," said Gardiner, the Abaco native, who is currently training out of Orlando, Florida. "We're all celebrating and having a good time."

The trio all took time out to attend the Silver Lightning Cross Country Championships, held in honour of William 'Knucklehead' Johnson, on Saturday at the Bahamas Golf Federation's Driving Range. Both Gardiner and Miller-Uibo are the Bahamas' national record holders in the men's and women's 200 and 400. They are now both ranked at number six on the all-time list worldwide for their performances in Doha.

A year ago, Miller-Uibo attempted to get a pot in the IAAF World Indoor Championships for the heptathlon for women - a multiple 10 event over 10 days - but the request was turned down.

"It was an off year so we attempted it. Maybe on another off year, we will attempt it again," said Miller-Uibo, who is a former outstanding long and high jumper as well as shot putter. "I definitely want to try it again. My coach is up to it, so we will look at it again."

While Maicel said he would like one day to see his wife competing in the heptathlon as he makes his presence felt in the decathlon. But he indicated that he doesn't envision himself joining her in the 400m - ever.