Shaunae Miller certainly didn't have one of her better races at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday, as she faded to seventh in her specialty.
The Bahamian junior national record holder and global superstar is coming off a severe hamstring injury, which might have hindered her progress. Running out of lane seven in the final last night, she just didn't have the steam to keep up with some of the world's best female quarter-milers, as day six of the 20th Commonwealth Games concluded in Glasgow.
Miller ran a subpar 53.08 seconds, after qualifying in 51.58. It was a Jamaican 1-2-3 sweep that took the event by storm.
Stephanie McPherson was first in 50.67 seconds, Novlene Williams-Mills settled for the silver medal in 50.86 seconds and Christine Day took the bronze in 51.09 seconds, coming back to beat defending champion Amantle Montsho, of Botswana, who ran 51.10 seconds for fourth.
The Bahamas will have another shot to go after quarter-mile gold when the men take to the track this evening in Glasgow.
LaToy Williams was an automatic qualifier, finishing second in his semi-final heat, in 45.44 seconds; Chris Brown had to wait to see if he would get in, but qualified on time, finishing third in his heat in 45.55 seconds. The final, which will feature three Trinidadians and two Bahamians, will be run at 8:30 p.m. tonight in Glasgow, 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). Brown will run out of lane one, and Williams will run out of lane eight.
Also on the track yesterday, Dennis Bain was seventh in his heat of the men's 110m hurdles in 14.21 seconds, and failed to move on to the final. He finished 18th overall.
In the women's 400m hurdles, Katrina Seymour was sixth in her heat in 1:01.34; she failed to move on to the final. She finished 19th overall.
In the men's long jump, Raymond Higgs posted a best jump of 7.61m (24' 11-3/4"), and Leevan "Superman" Sands had a best jump of 7.48m (24' 6-1/2"), but both failed to make the final. Higgs barely missed qualifying, finishing 13th overall, and Sands was 15th. Only the 12 best jumpers advanced to the final. Higgs actually had the exact mark as the 12th best jumper, Tera Kiplangat of Kenya, but Higgs lost out on the tiebreaker, as his second best jump wasn't as good as Kiplangat's second best jump.
In swimming, teenager Joanna Evans finished second in her heat of the 800m free, in 4:17.81, but failed to qualify for the final. She was about a half a second off her national record time of 4:17.29, which was done here in New Providence in March this year. Evans, who has already established two national records at this year's Commonwealth Games, finished 16th overall, and brought the swimming portion of the games to a close for Team Bahamas.
The boxing segment of the games also came to a close for Team Bahamas yesterday, as super heavyweight Keishno Major lost a unanimous decision to Joseph Goodall, of Australia. Each of the three judges scored the quarter-final fight, 30-26, in favor of Goodall.
The Bahamas' sole wrestler also saw action yesterday. Rashji Mackey made history by becoming the first wrestler from The Bahamas to compete in a Commonwealth Games, but his time on the mat was short-lived, as he suffered a convincing loss to South African Gerald Meyer. Meyer shut out Mackey in the 74 kilogram class fight, winning 10-0 on points, at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. He was declared a winner of great superiority on the meet's website.
The Bahamas will see action in just athletics today.
Tamara Myers will be the 13th jumper in Group 'A' of the women's long jump qualifying competition, and Bianca "BB" Stuart will be the fifth jumper in Group 'B'. Those groups will begin jumping at 10:05 a.m. in Glasgow, 5:05 a.m. here in The Bahamas. The 12 best jumpers will move on to the final.
Teray Smith will run out of lane eight in heat nine of the men's 200m, at 10:58 a.m. in Glasgow, 5:58 a.m. here in The Bahamas; Michael Mathieu will run out of lane five in heat 10 seven minutes later. Only the top two finishers in each heat and the next four fastest times move on to the semi-finals.
Jeffery Gibson will run out of lane four in heat two of the men's 400m hurdles at 11:36 a.m. in Glasgow, 6:36 a.m. here in The Bahamas. The top two in each heat and the next two fastest times move on to the final.
Also today, Teshon Adderley will run a member on her first senior national team, in the first round of the women's 800m. She will run out of lane two in the first of four first round heats at 12 noon in Glasgow, 7:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
As for the evening session in Glasgow, Ryan Ingraham and Donald Thomas will contest the men's high jump. Ingraham will be the third jumper, while Thomas, the defending champion, will jump seventh. That event will take place at 6:35 p.m. in Glasgow, 1:35 p.m. here in The Bahamas.
Following that for The Bahamas will be the men's 400m final at 3:30 p.m. local time, featuring Chris Brown and LaToy Williams. Finally on the track for The Bahamas today, Nivea Smith will contest the women's 200m. She will run out of lane five in heat four at 9:33 p.m. in Glasgow, 4:33 p.m. here in The Bahamas.
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