The entry lists are out and The Bahamas will be well represented in a number of events at the 19th World Athletics Outdoor Championships, set for August 19-27 at the newly built National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary.
The Bahamas will compete in the sprints, hurdles, jumps, and throws.
The 11-member squad is led by World and Olympic Champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo who is back in action after having a baby in April. She qualified in two events, the women's 200 and 400 meters (m), but will compete in just the latter in Budapest, returning to the event she dominated for much of the last decade, winning two Olympic titles, a world championships crown, a world indoor title, a Diamond League Championship and the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Championship. She is the defending champion in that event.
She is a remarkable athlete, trying to record what would truly be a mammoth task. The Bahamian has her work cut out for her as American world record holder in the women's 400m hurdles Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has risen to the forefront as the woman to beat. She has the world leading time of 48.74 seconds, which is actually the fastest time in the world since Miller-Uibo ran a NACAC record of 48.36 seconds for the Olympic title in 2021.
Also, former world champion Salwa Eid Naser, of Bahrain, is back after serving a three-year suspension, Marileidy Paulino, of the Dominican Republic, has been gradually on the rise over the last five years, and Sada Williams, of Barbados, is always a fierce competitor.
Miller-Uibo isn't the only Bahamian who qualified in two events but would be competing in just one.
Olympic Champion Steven Gardiner has qualified in the men's 200 and 400m, and like Miller-Uibo, will be competing in just the longer race. Gardiner missed last year's world championships due to tendon inflammation but is back and running fast times heading into Budapest. He is the world leader at 43.73 seconds and is looking to reclaim the world title that he won in Doha, Qatar, in 2019.
Terrence Jones qualified for the world championships in both the 100 and 200m, but will run in just the 100m in Budapest. He is unquestionably the top male sprinter in the country, running sub-10 in the 10m and sub-20 in the 200m this year. Jones has run personal best times of 9.91 seconds in the 100m and 19.87 seconds in the 200m this year. The former ties a 16-year-old national record that Derrick Atkins did for the silver medal at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Jones, through his coaching team, cites a heavy workload as the reason for contesting just the 100m at the worlds.
Anthonique Strachan has qualified for the world championships in the women's 100 and 200m, and has been entered for both in Budapest. She is having the best season of her life, running personal best times in both the 100 and 200m this year. In the shorter race, Strachan goes into the event tied as the 11th fastest runner in the world for 2023 with a personal best clocking of 10.92 seconds at the Bislett Games Diamond League Meet in Oslo, Norway, in the middle of June. In the 200m, she ran a personal best time of 22.15 seconds at the Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athletisme de Rabat, in Rabat, Morocco, in May.
Those are the only members of the team who have qualified in multiple events.
Charlton is the only Bahamian to run in the final of the short hurdles at both the world outdoor championships and the Olympics and will be a threat in that event again. She goes into that event as the 18th fastest in the world in 2023, having run a season's best of 12.62 seconds at the Ed Murphey Classic, in Memphis, Tennessee, at the beginning of this month. She is rounding into form at exactly the right time and always step up at the major meets.
Alonzo Russell is having his best season, running the three fastest times of his career in the men's 400m this year. He is tied for 23rd on the world's top performance list with a season's and personal best time of 44.73 seconds that he did at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida, in April.
Donald Thomas is a former world champion, and despite having a subpar season, he is battling back to form and is known to rise to the occasion at major meets.
Also on the team are first-timers at this level Charisma Taylor, Rhema Otabor, LaQuan Nairn and Shakeem Hall-Smith. They will be competing in the women's triple jump, women's javelin, men's long jump and men's 400m hurdles respectively. All four are capable of turning in huge performances and advancing to the finals of their respective events.
There is no head coach named, but Leevan Sands will travel as the jumps coach and Corrington Maycock will coach Otabor in the women's javelin. A number of personal coaches will travel with the team as well including Shaun Miller for Miller-Uibo, Rolando 'Lonnie' Greene for Charlton and Shawn Terry for Strachan.
The team leader is Laketah Charlton, Tito Moss is the assistant team leader, Dr. Keir Miller is the team doctor and Pharez Cooper will travel as the team's physiotherapist.
The World Athletics Championships is the biggest competition for athletics this year and The Bahamas is primed for a fantastic showing.
The post Entry lists released for Budapest appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.The post Entry lists released for Budapest appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
