The Bahamas finished tied for 24th at Commonwealth Games

Mon, Aug 4th 2014, 11:03 PM

Given all of its medal success in the men's 1,600 meters (m) relay, The Bahamas had never come out on top in the event at the Commonwealth Games, but appeared primed to put an end to that Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland. However, after a spirited, blazing final leg by Chris "The Fireman" Brown in the rain, the country came up just short in pursuit of that elusive gold.
Great Britain, anchored by up-and-coming quarter-miler Matthew Hudson-Smith, held on for the gold in 3:00.46, and Brown and The Bahamas settled for the silver, in 3:00.51. After leading for most of the race, Trinidad and Tobago fell into the bronze medal spot on the anchor leg, finishing in 3:01.51. Brown turned in the fastest split of all of the runners, running 44.3, to come within a lean of the gold. He got the stick in third place, paced himself for the first 300m, went past Trinidadian Zwede Hewitt coming into the home stretch, and then set his eyes on Hudson-Smith. Hudson-Smith, who recently just entered the sub-45 category in the open quarter, appeared to be laboring to the finish, but once he felt Brown pull alongside of him, he pushed forward with one last ditch effort to give England the gold. Brown appeared to run out of gas coming into the tape himself, and had to settle for silver as he was out-leaned by Hudson-Smith.
It will certainly go down as one of the most exciting races in Bahamian and Commonwealth Games history.
The Bahamas trailed Trinidad & Tobago and Great Britain for most of the race, but behind Brown's 44.3 anchor leg, the country made a serious push for the gold. Hudson-Smith answered Brown's 44.3 anchor leg with a 44.5 split, and out-leaned him at the tape. Be that as it may, it was still the highest finish ever for The Bahamas in that event at the Commonwealth Games.
The silver by the men's mile relay team gave The Bahamas three in total, as the 20th Commonwealth Games came to a close in Glasgow, Scotland. The country finished with two silver medals and a bronze to finish tied for 24th in the medal standings, with Samoa. It's just the second time in the past five Commonwealth Games that The Bahamas didn't win a gold medal.
Great Britain was dominant in the 11-day quadrennial games, finishing with 174 total medals - 58 gold, 59 silver and 57 bronze. Australia was second with 137 total medals - 49 gold, 42 silver and 46 bronze; and Canada rounded out the top three with 82 total medals - 32 gold, 16 silver and 34 bronze.
The top Caribbean country was Jamaica, finishing 10th with 22 total medals - 10 gold, four silver and eight bronze.
The Bahamas got two of its three medals in athletics, courtesy of the men's mile relay team and a bronze by Jeffery Gibson in the men's 400m hurdles, and the other medal came in swimming with Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace swimming to a silver in the women's 50m fly. It was the first ever swimming medal for The Bahamas at the Commonwealth Games.
Despite winning just three medals, it was truly a historic games for the country.
The Bahamas won its first ever Commonwealth Games medal in swimming, and for the first time ever, the country put four relay teams in the finals at the Commonwealth Games. Additionally, the swimmers set six new national records - two each by Dustin Tynes, Joanna Evans and Vanderpool-Wallace. Vanderpool-Wallace, in particular, lowered the national record six times over a three-day span, in the 50m free and 50m fly events combined.
In athletics, Gibson ran a national record time of 48.78 seconds for the bronze in the men's 400m hurdles, and despite coming up short of ascending to the medal dais, the men's sprint relay team of Adrian Griffith, Warren Fraser, Shavez Hart and Teray Smith, ran a new national record in the heats. The team, in that order, ran 38.52 seconds to do away with the old national record of 38.70 seconds that was ran in the heats of the event at the Moscow World Championships. In the final, the team used the order of Griffith, Hart, Fraser then Smith, and finished in a modest 39.16 seconds, for fifth place.
Jamaica, which featured the return of triple world record holder Usain Bolt on anchor, won the gold medal in a games record time of 37.58 seconds. Great Britain followed in 38.02 seconds, and Trinidad & Tobago claimed the bronze medal in 38.10 seconds. South Africa ran a national record time of 38.35 seconds for fourth place, and The Bahamas settled for fifth.
In the women's relays, The Bahamas finished sixth and seventh in the sprint and mile relays respectively.
The sprint team of Katrina Seymour, Sheniqua Ferguson, Cache Armbrister and Nivea Smith ran 44.25 seconds for sixth in the final. The team of Ferguson, Shaunae Miller, Bodie and Smith ran 44.50 seconds in the heats. Jamaica, anchored by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, won the gold medal in a games record time of 41.83 seconds; Nigeria secured the silver in 42.92 seconds, and Great Britain won the bronze in 43.10 seconds. The Bahamas' team of Timicka Clarke, Savetheda Fynes, Chandra Sturrup and Debbie Ferguson, held the old games record of 42.44 seconds set back in 2002.
In the women's mile relay, The Bahamas' team of Christine Amertil, Miller, Lanece Clarke and Miriam Byfield, in that order, finished seventh in the final in 3:34.86. In the heats, the team of Amertil, Shakeitha Henfield, Byfield and Clarke, ran 3:31.91.
Jamaica, which featured all three medalists from the open quarter, took the gold in the final, in a games record time of 3:23.82, Nigeria won the silver medal in 3:24.71, and Great Britain claimed the bronze medal, in 3:27.24.
The final athletes to see action for The Bahamas were the five cyclists, Chad Albury, Anthony "Biggie" Colebrook, Jay Major, Deangelo Sturrup and Roy Colebrook Jr., in the men's cycling road race on Sunday morning. Neither of the five men finished the grueling 168.2 kilometer (km) 12-lap course.
Albury was listed as being in 87th place at the 42.1km mark, "Biggie" Colebrook was in 88th place at the 42.1km mark, Major was 100th at that same mark, and Sturrup and Colebrook Jr. were listed in the 117th and 120th spots respectively, at the 28km mark.
The games came to a close on Sunday in Glasgow. The 2018 Commonwealth Games are set for April 4-15, in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

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