The Tribune

By Tenajh Sweeting

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

TEAM Bahamas made waves at this past weekend’s 50th edition of the CARIFTA Games after more than doubling last year’s previous medal count of 17.

The team amassed 41 medals with nine being gold, 12 silver and 20 bronze to make the island nation proud.

However, despite the positives that came out of CARIFTA weekend for Team Bahamas, there has been some ongoing criticism about some of the mis-steps that took place this year.

Members of other Caribbean nations took to social media to speak out against the officiating at the Bahamas’ ninth hosting of the CARIFTA Games.

This came after numerous disqualifications, timed races, false starts, timing malfunctions and medal mistakes.

Most recently, Otto Laing initially came second in the under 20 boys 110 metre hurdles finals for a silver medal.

However, on the same day that he celebrated his silver medal win, it was then bumped up to a gold after claims that Jamaica’s winner Shaquane Gordon had false started the race.

Despite the false start on the final day, he was given the green card and allowed to run again.

However, there have also been discrepancies about which of Jamaica’s runners actually false started in the race, the first place finisher or the third place finisher, which would determine whether Laing got awarded a gold medal or remained with silver.

Drumeco Archer, president of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA), talked about the situation surrounding the under 20 boys 110m hurdles.

“I am hearing a lot of utterances about him moving back down to second place but we have gotten no official communication from the Jury of Appeal and we had a meeting with the competition’s team yesterday and they too were unaware of any change in position and that is something that remains to be seen,” Archer said.

He added that upon review of the footage, there was definitely a false start in the race, and competitors were allowed to run a second time, and after review, The Bahamas launched a protest which they won but there has been nothing else communicated to them by the Jury of Appeal to overturn that decision.

With both the western and eastern sides of the Thomas A Robinson stadium being packed on the final day of the games, although there were some shortcomings, the BAAA president maintains that the country had a world-class performance in terms of competition, and delivery of the games.

“When we take an index of what makes a games great, I think that’s really a matter for the people, the spectators, and everyone included, to say what that really represents to them. I thought that the athletes had a great time, there were amazing performances, and I think the Bahamian fans truly enjoyed the event and it was a proud moment for The Bahamas,” he said.

The president took accountability for the lack of scoring and display boards. He noted that orders for the equipment were placed but did not arrive in time for this year’s games. On the issue of the false starts Archer maintains that international bodies and officials govern these events and when an individual false starts and the footage is checked it’s an issue of fact not subjectivity. He added that if it is deemed that an athlete has false started they do not get involved as it is a part of the technical operations of the games.

Mike Sands, president of the North American, Central American, and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC), wanted to also clarify that Team Guyana was not left to fend for themselves while en route to CARIFTA.

Team Guyana was unable to come into the country on BahamasAir charter flights initially due to a shortage of seats because of a delay in paperwork. The team was able to fly as far as Havana, Cuba but were unable to make it to the host country due to some challenges. However, Prime Minister Phillip Davis, Minister of Foreign Affairs Frederick Mitchell, and Minister of Youth, Sports, and Culture Mario Bowleg intervened on their behalf to get them to The Bahamas to compete at the CARIFTA games.

Jamaica finished first at this year’s CARIFTA games. The Bahamas finished second and Trinidad and Tobago came third in this year’s overall medal count.