Just as German athletics historian Michael Preisinger said in 1993, for the World Indoor Championships we can say: 'The Bahamas - Small Country, Great Athletes'.
Since we first captured the bronze medal in the inaugural International Association of Athletic Federations' (IAAF) World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis in 1987, having won three gold medals, four silver and eight bronze for a total of 15 medals, we can also declare, 'The Bahamas - Small Country, Great Athletes'!
At the top of the list are gold medalists Chandra Sturrup, Dominic Demeritte and Chris Brown.
Sturrup captured the gold in the 60 meters (m) in Lisbon, Portugal in 2001 when she clocked 7.05 seconds for the win. In 2004 in Budapest, Dominic Demeritte won the 200m in 20.66 seconds to win the last 200m to be held at the championships. Six years later in Doha, Chris Brown captured the 400m in 45.96 seconds for the win. Brown has won more medals in the indoor 400m than any other athlete in history.
Winning silver medals were Pauline Davis-Thompson, Chandra Sturrup, Christine Amertil and Demetrius Pinder. Davis-Thompson captured the silver in the 200m in Barcelona in 1995 with a clocking of 22.68 seconds. Sturrup finished behind Gail Devers in Paris in 1997 in the 60m, in a clocking of 7.15 seconds. Pinder won his silver medal in the 400m in Istanbul, Turkey in 2012, clocking 45.34 seconds.
As we indicated previously, Frank Rutherford won his bronze medal in Indianapolis at the inaugural championships in 1987. He jumped 17.02m (55' 10-1/4").
The other bronze medalists were:
Pauline Davis-Thompson, 1999 - Maebashi, Japan (200m, 22.70 seconds)

Demeritte, 2003 - Birmingham, Great Britain (200m, 20.92 seconds)

Tonique Williams, 2004 - Budapest, Hungary (400m, 50.87 seconds - national record)
Christine Amertil, 2006 - Moscow, Russia (400m, 50.34 seconds - area record and national record)
Chris Brown, 2006 - Moscow, Russia (400m, 45.78 seconds - national record)
Chris Brown, 2008 - Valencia, Spain (400m, 46.26 seconds)
Chris Brown, 2012 - Istanbul, Turkey (400m, 45.90 seconds)
There were 28 finalists.
The Bahamas has had 28 finalists in these championships. In additional to the medalists they are:
Troy Kemp, 1989 - Budapest, Hungary - high jump, 13th, 2.25m (7' 4-1/2").
Troy Kemp, 1993 - Toronto, Canada - high jump, 4th, 2.34m (7' 8-1/4").
Pauline Davis-Thompson, 1991 - Seville, Spain - 60m, 5th, 7.16 seconds.
Daphne Saunders, 1995 - Barcelona, Spain - long jump, 13th, 5.65m (18' 6-1/2").
Troy McIntosh, 1999 - Maebashi, Japan - 400m, 4th, 46.05 seconds.
Savetheda Fynes, 1999 - Maebashi, Japan - 60m, 4th 7.09 seconds.
Savetheda Fynes, 2001 - Lisbon, Portugal - 60m, 4th, 7.16 seconds.
Savetheda Fynes, 2003 - Birmingham, Great Britain - 60m, did not compete.
Men's 4x400m relay, 2004 - Budapest, Hungary - (Chris Brown, Dennis Darling, Andretti Bain and Tim Munnings; Troy McIntosh - first round), 5th, 3:17.57. Note: Munnings was knocked down and got back up on final leg.
Jackie Edwards, 2006 - Moscow, Russia - long jump, 6th, 6.46m (21' 2-1/4").
Chandra Sturrup, 2010 - Doha, Qatar - 60m, 5th, 7.16 seconds.
Trevor Barry, 2012 - Istanbul, Turkey - high jump, 8th, 2.31m (7' 7").
Bianca Stuart, 2012 - Istanbul, Turkey - long jump, 8th, 4.71m (15' 5-3/4").
There was also a national record without attaining a final spot - Rodney Greene, 2010 - Doha, Qatar - 60m, 6.65 seconds.

Sopot, Poland 2014
The top performance done by a Bahamian this indoor season is arguably the 2.33m (7' 7-3/4") by Donald Thomas several weeks ago. Thomas finished sixth in the Moscow World Championships last August.
Shaunae Miller has run real well this indoor season in the 300m, an event not contested in the World Indoor Championships. The 200m, in which Miller finished fourth in Moscow last summer, isn't contested either. To our knowledge, she might decide to participate in the 400m this time around.
The men's 4x400m relay had a good run in Birmingham, setting a new Bahamian national indoor record, but we have not heard anything from Michael Mathieu or Demetrius Pinder since. Over the years, we have been jinxed in this event.
In 2003, the team was disqualified when Avard Moncur started prior to the exchange zone. The next year in Budapest there was the collision with Tim Munnings and a Russian athlete. In their last outing in Istanbul, the team did not suit up because both Demetrius Pinder and Chris Brown had advanced to the final and decided not to run in the preliminary round that morning. The Bahamas did not have sufficient additional athletes to run.
In the best of times, indoor running around curves is not easy. We hope this is the year that we finally win a medal in this event.

Amertil's area record
The area record of Christine Amertil in the 400m in Moscow in 2006 is a performance that many Bahamians take for granted. After all, she only won the bronze medal. She is, however, the only Bahamian athlete who holds an area record, out-shining the best of the speedsters from Trinidad & Tobago to Canada, with Jamaica, Cuba and the United States of America (USA) in between. She should be celebrated!
The deadline for submitting entries was 6 p.m. on Monday, so we await the decision of the federation as to which athletes are selected to the team, and who will be selected as coach of the team. Next week we will talk about our team to Poland, and those athletes around the world who we should look forward to doing well in Sopot.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian