At the end of this month, Dennis Marshall will become just the fourth Bahamian to serve in the IAAF family, and the second Bahamian to serve on the IAAF Women's Committee. The International Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) 50th Congress wrapped up on Thursday here in Beijing, China, and Marshall was one of two Bahamians to be successful during their election of officers.
Pauline Davis-Thompson was elected to serve a third consecutive four-year term on the IAAF Council, after her herself being on the IAAF Women's Committee for four years. She was the pacesetter for Marshall. All of the new positions, including that of new president Lord Sebastian Coe of Great Britain, won't come into effect until the conclusion of the 15th IAAF World Outdoor Championships which get underway today at Beijing's National Stadium, otherwise known as the "Bird's Nest", in Beijing.
The nine-day biennial championships will wrap up on August 31.
"I'm looking forward to serving," said Marshall on Friday.
"This process actually started a long time ago. We made contact with a number of groupings that we know very well, and we were able to put together sufficient support to get elected. We're thankful for the support."
Marshall is one of the 20 percent men who are mandated to serve on the IAAF Women's Committee. The remainder are women, and they will get to work on strategies to progress women in athletics once the world championships are over. "I was confident straight through, and it held up for us," said Marshall.
"Like any other election, there were other people with support as well. We were just hopeful that we would have a good result, and that is the way it worked out. "I look at it as another opportunity for The Bahamas - another Bahamian getting involved in the IAAF family. I'm hopeful that I would make good representation. Pauline Davis-Thompson did an excellent job in her capacity on the women's committee, and she's still working in the system.
She was most helpful every step along the way in myself being elected, and I'm grateful to her and our team." Also on Wednesday of this week, long-time technical director in the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) Frank "Pancho" Rahming received the Veteran's Pin from outgoing IAAF President Lamine Diack. Meanwhile, the championships get underway today. National record holder in the men's 400 meters (m) hurdles Jeffery Gibson will be first up for The Bahamas when he runs in the heats of that event at 6:35 p.m. local time in Beijing, 6:35 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) in The Bahamas.
Gibson, who just turned 25 last Saturday, will run out of lane five in heat one. 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. 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. Also tomorrow in Beijing, tonight in The Bahamas, Steven Gardiner, Michael Mathieu and Chris Brown are scheduled to run in the heats of the men's 400m. 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.
Action continues on Monday. "From the track side, I'm definitely looking forward to The Bahamas having some great results. We have a very good team here, and if everyone does their best, I'm sure that we will have great results to take back home," said Marshall.
"From the new committee, we haven't met as yet, but I'm looking forward to it and assisting wherever I can." According to team manager Ralph McKinney, the entire 25-member team is in high spirits, and they are all looking forward to competition.
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