The world's best athletes will be on display starting today, and The Bahamas' 25-member team will be right in the mix. Kicking things off for The Bahamas at the 15th International Association of Athletic Federation's (IAAF) World Outdoor Championships here in Beijing, China, will be national record holder in the men's 400 meters (m) hurdles Jeffery Gibson. Gibson, who just turned 25 last Saturday, will run out of lane five in heat one of the event at 6:35 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) in The Bahamas. The top four in each heat and the next four fastest times will move on to the semi-finals.
Also in action today for The Bahamas will be two-time double sprint national champion Shavez Hart in the first round of the men's 100m. Hart will run at 7:20 a.m. EST in The Bahamas. The semis of the men's 400m hurdles are set for 6:40 p.m. in Beijing tomorrow, 6:40 a.m. in The Bahamas, and the semis and final of the men's 100m will be held. The semis will get underway at 7:10 a.m. in The Bahamas, and the final is set for 9:15 a.m. EST.
"Everything is set in terms of the athletes wanting to go out there and put their best effort forward," said Team Manager Ralph McKinney on Friday.
"Jeffery has been focused this entire year, and the results are there to prove it. He is one of those athletes who we are counting on to do really well. He's progressively run extremely well this year. The interesting thing about him is that his main competition will come from his camp up there in Raleigh, North Carolina. So, he works with world-class hurdlers every day, and as you can see, he saves his best performances for the big stage, He's ready to go, and we have no doubt that Jeffery will get us off to a great start in these world championships."
Gibson trains with his college coach, American George Williams, at St. Augustine's University in Raleigh. Also up there are Americans Bershawn "Bat Man" Jackson and Johnny Dutch, numbers one and two in the world respectively. In fact, five of the top six on the IAAF's top performance list are Americans, and four of them are entered in the 400m hurdles this weekend.
As for the other events involving Bahamians this weekend, Steven Gardiner, Michael Mathieu and Chris Brown are scheduled to run in the heats of the men's 400m tomorrow in Beijing, tonight in The Bahamas; and Sheniqua Ferguson will contest the first round of the women's 100m first thing Sunday morning in The Bahamas. The men's 400m will get underway at 11:10 p.m. Saturday night, and the first round of the women's 100m will be held at 12 midnight Sunday morning in The Bahamas.
"Everybody is ready to go. The main thing is that everyone has to be focused," said McKinney.
"Winning medals will requires persons to do season's bests, personal bests and national records. Two events that I am looking at with great interest are the women's hurdles and the women's 4x400 meters. Those are two of the events that we have a very good chance of national records in. In the women's hurdles, in particular, it took a national record just for those two athletes to get here. The women's 4x400 meters, with Shaunae in the mix, could have an exceptional performance. Collectively, it should be a very good meet for us," he added.
Monday could be another busy day for The Bahamas with the heats of the women's 400m featuring Shaunae Miller, the semis and final of the women's 100m, and the semi-finals of the men's 400m. Tuesday, the first medal for The Bahamas could come in the final of the men's 400m hurdles. Miller could be running in the semis of the 400m that day, and the first round of the men's 200m will get underway.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
