Steven Gardiner tries to catch his breath after winning the men's 400m at the BAAA Senior National Track and Field Championships at the new Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. He won in 44.46 seconds. (Photo: Torrell Glinton)

The country's top track and field athletes competed fiercely over the weekend at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations' (BAAA) Senior National Track and Field Championships, with several of them validating earlier performances to represent The Bahamas on the biggest stage for sports, the Olympic Games.

The Summer Olympics is rapidly approaching, set for August 5-21, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and the BAAA senior nationals wrapped up Saturday night at the new Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

National record holder in the women's 400 meters (m) Shaunae Miller cruised to an easy win in that event, winning in 52.17 seconds. Miller, the world's number one sprinter in the event, controlled the race from start to finish.

"It's always fun being back home in front of this crowd," she said. "I didn't push too hard and I'm happy with the performance. Now the focus shifts to Rio; training is going well and I'll be ready to go."

Lanece Clarke was second in 53.28 seconds and Shaniqua Dorsett was third in 53.97 seconds.

Alonzo Russell booked his ticket Rio de Janeiro with his performance in the men's 400m, where he mustered up a second place finish in a personal best time of 45.25 seconds. The qualifying mark is 45.40 seconds.

Despite Russell turning in a personal best, it wasn't enough to come close to national record holder Steven Gardiner's 44.46 seconds. Gardiner took the lead on the back stretch and came off the curve in good position. He powered down the straight away to win easily, retaining his national title.

Former national record holder Chris "The Fireman" Brown was third in 45.59 seconds and Stephen "Dirty" Newbold was fourth in a personal best time for him, 45.80 seconds. Gardiner, Brown, Michael Mathieu, LaToy Williams and Ramon Miller had already qualified in the men's 400m, but Williams and Miller were no-shows, and Mathieu ended up sixth in 46.29 seconds. Former three-time national champion Demetrius Pinder finished fifth in 46.16 seconds.

"I think I performed well. I executed what my coach told me and I was able to get the victory," said Gardiner, who was able to come back from a slow start out of the blocks. "I was a little slow in the first 200, but I was better in the second 200. It's always good to run in front of my home crowd and I look forward to representing my country."

New qualifier Russell said: "It felt good out there and I'm happy to get the real qualifier. It was a pretty good field and I just wanted to keep myself in the race and make it happen."

Ian Kerr barely missed qualifying for the Olympics in the men's 200m. His winning time of 20.72 was enough to take the national title, but off the qualifying mark of 20.50 seconds. Blake Bartlett was second in 20.82 seconds, and Elroy McBride took the bronze in 20.85 seconds.

"I felt like my performance was pretty good, but it still could have been a whole lot better," said Kerr. "I felt like my first 90 meters on the curve was weak, but coming off the curve was my strong part. Working back from my early season injuries made me mentally tough this season, and it really pushed to be where I need to be to be successful."

University of Southern California (USC) standout Tynia Gaither won both short sprints at the nationals, completing the sweep with a 200m victory on Saturday in 23 seconds flat. She won the 100 in 11.33 seconds on Friday.

"The race was fun. I like running the 200 on this track," Gaither said. "I tried to get a good start, the first 60 has always been a strong point and I just focused on my technique after that. It feels good to finally be healthy and my recent success is just a result of that."

Anthonique Strachan was second in the 200 in 23.40 seconds and Sheniqua "Q" Ferguson crossed the finish line in third in 23.54 seconds.

Other winners on the track on Saturday included Matthew Grammatico, who took the men's 5,000m in 21:08.60, Ivanique Kemp in the 100m hurdles, with the absence of national record holder Pedrya Seymour and former co-national record holder Adanaca Brown, in 13.58 seconds, and Teshon Adderley and Rocky Jean-Louis in the women and men's 800m in times of 2:08.81 and 1:52.09 respectively.

Over in the field, "Superman" Leevan Sands won the men's triple jump with a leap of 16.60m (54' 5-1/2"); Tamara Myers took the women's triple jump with a personal best leap of 13.60m (44' 7-1/2"), Donald Thomas took the men's high jump with a leap of 2.27m (7' 5-1/4") and Gerrard Burrows won the men's discus throw with a toss of 48.72m (159' 10").

On Friday, Shavez Hart won the men's 100m dash in 10.37 seconds, national record holder Jeffrey Gibson won the men's 400m hurdles in 50.24 seconds and Oneil Williams took the men's 1,500m run in 3:56.37.

After he just missed qualifying for the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) World U20 Championships at the BAAA junior nationals, Holland Martin came back and achieved the feat at the senior nationals with a personal best leap of 15.68m (51' 3-1/2"). The qualifying mark for the junior nationals is 15.60m (51' 2-1/4"). Leevan Sands won that competition with his leap of 16.60m, Lathone Collie finished second with a leap of 16m (52' 6") flat, and Martin was third. Olympic qualifier Latario Collie was a no-show.

Randy Smith, Guardian Sports Reporter

A man wanted for questioning in the possession of a high-powered assault weapon is detained in hospital after he was arrested following a shootout with police on Friday.

According to police reports, around 8pm Friday officers received a report of a man armed with a firearm driving a silver coloured Nissan Primera on Water Street in the Big Pond area.

A short while later, responding officers encountered the suspect driving the vehicle in the area. As the officers approached the suspect, he fired a shot at them and sped off.

The police pursued. During the chase, the suspect hit a Honda vehicle driven by a woman with three passengers, but refused to stop. The suspect then turned his vehicle around and drove head on towards a police vehicle, police said.

The officers, in fear for their lives, shot the suspect and the vehicle came to a stop. The suspect was rushed to hospital where he is detained in serious condition under heavy police guard.

Police want to question the suspect in connection with an AK- 47 assault rifle that it was claimed he had left in a vehicle following a police chase several weeks ago.

This incident occurred a day after police shot two men who led officers on a high-speed chase that ended on Marathon Road.

According to police reports, on Thursday night three men with a handgun robbed the owner of a Superwash laundromat on Charles Saunders Highway of a handbag and cash before fleeing in a red Honda Fit driven by another male.

Police immediately sent out an all-points bulletin (APB) for the vehicle. Shortly afterwards, around 8pm, officers on patrol spotted the car in the Nassau Village area. A chase followed that ended on Robinson Road near Marathon Road, where the vehicle came to a stop when it crashed into another car.

The four male suspects got out of the car and opened fire on police. Officers returned fire and shot two of them. Police immediately arrested the four men and recovered a handgun and all of the stolen property.

Two of the suspects were taken to hospital, where at last report they were in serious condition under heavy police guard.

Police suspect the four men to be responsible for a number of armed robberies over the past weeks and can confirm that one of the suspects is on bail for armed robbery.

Anyone with information on these incidents is asked to contact police at 911 or 919, the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 328-TIPS.olice on Friday.

Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie brought the keynote address at the Contract Signing Ceremony for the construction of a Seawall at Smith’s Point, Friday, June 24, 2016. (BIS Photo/Vandyke Hepburn)

Efforts to protect The Bahamas against coastal erosion is an investment in the country, Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie said as he gave the keynote address at the Contract Signing Ceremony for the construction of a Seawall at Smith’s Point, Friday, June 24, 2016.

The Prime Minister said many years ago when he was in Pelican Point, he was told a story about persons being able to picnic in a spot where the sea has now claimed the land.

Stories like this demonstrate that the country is strongly affected by climate change, so the Prime Minister said, “As we listen to the debate internationally about climate change, we have to pay a lot of attention to it.”

He said when world leaders met for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2016, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, spoke out about the record heat in his country where in certain parts they experience about 120 to 130 degrees causing problems for the young and old due to the extreme heat.

Prime Minister Christie noted that other leaders from the Pacific Islands spoke about islands that no longer exist because the sea has claimed them.

“I watched them speak to the possibility of their islands disappearing, and then when it was my time to speak, I told them that we no longer need evidence that the sea will take the land because in Hurricane Joaquin in Long Island, we saw the water come across the land. Settlements were separated one from the other by water.

“So any effort and all efforts that governments make to protect against coastal erosion can be banked up as a major investment in furtherance in protecting the rights of citizens of our country.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Urban Development, the Hon. Philip Davis; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, the Hon. Fred Mitchell; Minister of State for the Ministry of Works, the Hon. Arnold Forbes; Colin Higgs, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Urban Development; Melvin Seymour, Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Grand Bahama; Harcourt Brown, Senior Undersecretary, Ministry for Grand Bahama; George Hutchinson, Director of Public Works were also present.

By Robyn Adderley

Source: Bahamas Information Services

Left to Right: Minister of State for Investments, H.E. Khaalis Rolle, Permanent Representative to Bolivia, H.E. Mr. Sacha Sergio Llorenti Soliz, Vice Minister for Government Innovation and Organization Management of Korea, H.E. Jeon Song-Tae and Minister of State for Administration of Timor Leste, H.E. Mr. Dionisio Babo Soares.

Minister of State for Investments, the Hon. Khaalis Rolle, led The Bahamas Delegation as a panelist at the High-level panel discussion on “Leaving No One Behind: Innovative Institutional Approaches and Public Service Delivery for celebrating the 2016 United Nations Public Service Day” held on Thursday, 23rd June at UN Headquarters in New York.

The UN Public Service Day celebrates the value and virtue of public service to the community; highlight the contribution of public service in the development process; recognize the work of public servants, and encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector.

Left to Right: Minister of State for Investments, H.E. Khaalis Rolle and Under-Secretary General of Economic and Social Affairs, H.E. Mr. Wu Hongbo

Source: Bahamas Information Services