When the idea of the world relays first surfaced, The Bahamas was the nation that supported it fully and offered to host the inaugural championships. According to reports, this country was the only nation at the time, worldwide, that showed little to no fear in accepting the burden of such a risky, global phenomenon. For that reason, The Bahamas has received tremendous backing from the ruling council of the IAAF as a possible home for the world relays. The country hosted a hugely successful inaugural edition of the world relays in 2014, a just as effective edition this year, and is set to host the third edition of the event in 2017.
Beyond 2017, it is still up in the air as to where the world relays will be held, but Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Vice Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee for the event (LOC) Mike Sands said that the "Bahamazing" job done over the first two editions of the world relays has certainly aided the nation's cause.
"To my recollection, there has been no country the size of The Bahamas that would have hosted such a world event, and to do it on three occasions, is unprecedented. All of us deserve a round of applause for that," said Sands. "Lord Sebastian Coe commented that the decibel in the stadium equalled that to what took place in London 2012 at the Olympics. The reaction has been simply 'Bahamazing'.
"Like the Olympics, I think that the IAAF's intent is to move their various championships, whether it's the world championships or world relays or whatever, around the world. The fact that The Bahamas went ahead and assumed the risk when other countries with more resources backed out, that is worth something. We have gotten kudos from the length and breadth of the IAAF in the staging of this event. The thought of The Bahamas becoming the home of the world relays is simply because of what we have done."
The second International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) World Relays was held May 2 and 3 at the 15,000-seat Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. About 35,000 fans packed the stadium over the course of the two days. Lord Coe, who is one of the two men that has officially launched a campaign for the presidency of the IAAF, served as the chairman of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG). He is one of the council members who appears to be in support of The Bahamas becoming the home of the world relays.
"This year's event was another huge success. Our visiting guests left the country once again singing the praises of our little nation," said Sands. "The experience was once again termed, simply 'Bahamazing'. It demonstrated that we as a nation is capable of planning, organizing and executing various international sporting events that are considered to be the best in the world.
"As a team, the LOC is ensuring that we document the positives as well as the negatives of this event, and begin brainstorming in terms of how we can improve the planning and execution going forward in hopes of making The Bahamas the permanent home of the world relays. We want to invite the country to continue on this journey with us, as we seek to prove to the world that we are a sports power.
"We have to give a special tribute to our title partner BTC. They provided not only finances but technological assistance for this grand event. We thank our national partners - Atlantic Medical Insurance and Caribbean Bottling Company through its Coca-Cola brand, and the national suppliers as well. Also, we have to thank BACO (Bahamas Association of Certified Officials) and the many volunteers. We knew that it would take another huge effort, and together with everyone involved, we left another positive impression on the international community. We salute Team Bahamas."
LOC Managing Director Lionel Haven was also one singing the praises of Team Bahamas in the planning and staging of another global event.
"We were all optimistic that the all-Bahamian team responsible for the planning and execution of the world relays could produce another world class event," he said. "We want to publicly thank the hard-working, committed and dedicated team of managers and staff of the local organizing committee, the team of the National Sports Authority (NSA) that manages the day-to-day operation of the stadium, and our marketing agency, The Counsellors Ltd. They formed the team that made it happen.
Our venues team raised the standard this year, and together with the outstanding musical entertainment by the junkanoo contingent, it created a cultural experience that supplemented the world class competition and the passion and enthusiasm of the spectators. It demonstrated once again the power of merging sports and culture. We also want to thank the various government agency representatives. Our weekly sessions and their committed support made the process of dealing with the various government departments and ministries much easier. We extend a sincere gratitude to the media organizations as well."
Just like last year, the world relays was viewed in 160-plus countries around the world. The United States of America (USA) won the Golden Baton, given to the meet's top performing nation. The USA won seven of the 10 relays, setting world records in two of them and meet records in four more. Jamaica won two relays, and Nigeria won the other one. The Bahamas finished 10th with 11 points, two spots down from its standing in the inaugural competition last year.
LOC Chairman Keith Parker said that close to 2,000 locals, inclusive of police and defence force officers, security personnel, employees and volunteers, were involved in making the second running of the world relays a complete success.
"To show a testament to the success of the team, particularly the IT (Information Technology) team, this year, we had two people in particular, who were invited by the IT person of the IAAF to assist in the set-up of the technical component of the Beijing World Championships," said Parker. "Also, we would have seen where members in the IAAF family made specific requests for the same defence force driver from a year ago, so the contribution of everyone played a part in the success of the relays."
Parker said that they in the LOC are currently organizing a sweepstakes competition, for $10 per ticket, where a lucky entrant will win round-trip ticket to Beijing, China, for the Beijing World Championships this summer. That person will receive airfare to Beijing, accommodations for 11 nights in Beijing, tickets to the world championships sessions, meals, and even $1,000 spending money. The tickets are on sale at the LOC office at the stadium.
The Beijing World Championships is set for August 22-30, at Beijing's National Stadium, otherwise known as the "Bird's Nest", in Beijing, China. A number of Bahamian athletes have already qualified for those world championships.
"This is a testament to the quality of athletes that we have available to us," said Sands. "Even at the world relays, you would see that there were a number of junior athletes on the team, and we applaud them for their courage. They accepted the challenge, and we look forward to great performances from them in the future."
As far as the financial report of the second world relays is concerned, Sands said that they do not have those figures available at this particular time. Just two weeks ago, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr. Daniel Johnson said that a full economic impact study will be released to the public in 90 days. Ironically, the numbers from last year haven't been made public as yet.
"Between the revenue and the expenditure for this event, I think that we will have a pretty balanced statement," said Sands. "We're expecting a critical analysis from the IAAF. Like with all things, we are sure that there were some hiccups, so we'll just have to make the necessary adjustments for 2017. I believe that you will see this event grow as it progresses."
Sands said that it is very likely that there will be shuttle relays, a return of the 4x1,500m event, mixed medley relays, and possibly even field events, just like it is done at the prestigious Penn Relays, at future world relays competitions. He said that decision is up to the IAAF, but they are in a position at this particular time, to make recommendations.
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