The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN a year where we’ve had some extraordinary performances by players on their various international teams, Steven Gardiner managed to prevail above them all with his Olympic gold medal to earn The Tribune Sports’ 2021 Male Athlete of the Year.

The 26-year-old Gardiner’s Bahamas national record-breaking feat out-shined the efforts of Miami Marlins’ infielder Jasrado ‘Jazz’ Chisholm in Major League Baseball, Phoenix Suns’ centre Deandre Ayton in the National Basketball Association, Arcada Galati’s Eugene Stuart as a member of the men’s champions in the Romania Division A1 League and collegian swimmer Izaak Bastian.

The only thing that was missing from his masterpiece this year was another national record, but getting back on top of the podium with another gold medal more than suffices for Steven Gardiner as he clinched his second Bahamian year-ending award.

Just last month, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture awarded Gardiner the Male Athlete of the Year honours in their awards banquet at the Baha Mar Convention Center. He didn’t get included in the World Athletics’ top list for the Male Athlete of the Year won by Norwegian 400m hurdles world record holder and Olympic gold medallist Karsten Warholm.

But Gardiner accomplished his national recognition by stretching out his 6-foot, 4-inch frame around the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan on August 5 in an impressive time of 43.85 seconds, just shy of his national record of 43.48 when he captured the gold at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Prior to the Olympics, which was delayed from last year because of COVID-19, Gardiner was undefeated in eight races in the 400m, but suffered his only loss when he participated in a 200m race in Lausanne on August 21.

On his return home in October, Gardiner, flanked by his family members (parents Theresa and Steven Gardiner Sr and younger sister Mesha) and coach Anthony Williams from Murphy Town and Moore’s Island, Abaco as well as his agent Juanita Bryant, received a lucrative one-year contract from BTC as a brand ambassador for their “Elevate What’s Next” campaign.

Ayton soared to 2nd place

All eyes were on the Phoenix Suns as they emerged out of the Western Conference in the 2020/2021 season to get into the NBA Finals, only to have their hopes for the title dashed by the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.

The talk was about the maturity of Bahamian 6-foot, 11-inch centre Deandre Ayton, the first overall pick in the 2018 draft, thanks to the addition of talented point guard Chris Paul to help stabilise the young team coached by Monty Williams.

In a continuation of their success, the Suns remained a hot topic in the 2021/2022 season. At the end of the five-game treat on Christmas Day on Saturday, December 25, Phoenix dropped to second place in the Western Conference at 26-6 with a 116-107 loss to the front-running 27-6 Golden State Warriors.

In 31 minutes, Ayton produced a package with 18 points and seven rebounds right around his consistent average of 7 points and 11.1 rebounds with 1.6 assists for the 23-year-old.

At the beginning of the season, there was some off the court issue with Ayton failing to secure a rookie extension before the season. However, if they can duplicate last season’s performance, he could seal a lucrative deal for his future in Phoenix.

Chisholm turned heads in 3rd place

Had it not been for the gold medal at the pinnacle of sports, Jasrado Chisholm’s flamboyant style of play for the Miami Marlins could have been celebrated by many. He hit .248/.303/.425 with 18 home runs, 53 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.

A mid-season injury prevented him from completing the season with an historic 20/20 home run/ stolen base feat. He did finish the year with the fastest sprint speed of all major league second basemen, at 29.1 feet/second.

Miami also missed out on a trip to the postseason as they completed the season in 12th place overall in the National League and fourth in their Eastern Conference with a 65-97 win-loss record.

Chisholm, traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Marlins for Zac Gallen on July 31, 2019, was assigned to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp where in 112 games between Jackson and Jacksonville, he slashed .220/.321/.441 with 21 home runs, 54 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases.

But following the 2019 season, the 23-year-old Chisholm was added to the Marlins’ 40-man roster and was promoted to the major leagues for the first time on September 1, 2020.

In 2021, Chisholm made the Marlins out of spring training as the team’s starting second baseman and has been a starting infielder between second base and shortstop.

Stuart spiked his way into 4th place

As one of three Bahamians currently playing professional volleyball, Eugene Stuart helped the Arcada Galati men’s volleyball team clinch the Romania Division A1 League championship title in April.

Stuart, along with five other foreign players, helped Arcada pull off a clean sweep three-set victory over SCM Zalau (Sport Club Municipal) over the weekend. Arcada finished the season with an impressive 28-2 win-loss record atop the team standings.

The 24-year-old 6-foot, 7-inch Stuart, who played middle blocker, completed just his first year with Arcada and he celebrated in grand style as the league champions, the first accomplished by any Bahamian.

Prior to going to Arcada, Stuart spent the previous season with Karelian Hurmos in the Mestaruusliiga league in Finland.

After graduating from St Augustine’s College in 2015 as a basketball/ volleyball combo star, the national team member went on to play for the University of Charleston, West Virginia where he graduated with his bachelor of science degree in sports business.

Stuart, in 2013, represented the Bahamas on the men’s junior national team at the Caribbean Volleyball Championships in Guadeloupe. Fast forward to 2016 when he was mentioned on ESPN as the “player to Watch” for a regular season match against Loyola University of Chicago.

The following year in 2017, he suited up for the men’s national volleyball team that played in the Caribbean Volleyball Championships in Trinidad & Tobago and in 2018, he was named the Defensive Player of the Week for the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) against Princeton University, while again representing the Bahamas on the men’s national team that played in Suriname at the Caribbean Volleyball Championships.

Bastian splash in top five

Now in his senior year at Florida State University, Izaak Bastian is coming into his own as the next male swimmer to watch on the international scene.

This year, the 20-year-old Bastian qualified for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which was held in August and he capped off the year as a competitor at the FINA World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi December 16-21.

In Tokyo, Bastian mustered a 40th place finish in the men’s 100m breaststroke in 1:01.87 and he was 36th in the 200m breaststroke in 2:17.40 as he made his median voyage to the world’s greatest sporting spectacle.

Then, as one of four athletes representing the country at the year-ending meet in Abu Dhabi, Bastian lowered his national record in both the 50 metres breaststroke from 27.60 to 27.24 for 24th overall and the 100m breaststroke from 1:00.87 to 59.61 for 30th place.

Bastian also teamed up with the other three members – Joanna Evans, Lilly Higgs and Lamar Taylor - to participate in the mixed 4 x 50m freestyle relay, clocking 1:36.43 for 12th place overall.

Prior to those meets, Bastian placed first in all of his events at the TYR Fall Classic, including meet records in the 400 medley relay, 100 breast (54.34), and 200 medley relay along with winning performances in the 200 free relay and 200 breast (2:01.33).

He helped the Seminoles to a win and set the Morcom Aquatics Center record in the 200 medley relay and finished second in the 100 breast (53.47) and 200 breast (1:58.21) against Auburn.

Bastian also recorded second-place finishes in the 100 breast in 53.74 and the 200 breast in 2:00.54 and secured a win in the 200 medley relay against Georgia Tech. And he placed third in the 100 free (47.18) and the 200 free relay against Florida Southern and contributed to the new 200 medley relay school record at the Georgia Tech Invitational and finished second in the 100 breast (52.27) and sixth in the 200 breast (1:57.27).