Shaunae Miller
stu forster/getty images
The Bahamas, athletics
S
haunae Miller opened her 2016 individual outdoor campaign with a world-leading 49.69-second run, earning her the women’s 400-metre gold at the Chris Brown Bahamas Invitational. With that clocking, the twenty-two-year-old Bahamian threw down the gauntlet to her one-lap rivals. The 49.69 scorcher was just two-hundredths of a second slower than Miller’s 49.67 personal best, which she produced in finishing second to American Allyson Felix (49.26) at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing last August. Last year, Miller opened with a 51.83-second run, and had to wait until July to dive under 50 seconds. That pattern suggests a very fast time is on the cards for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Miller is also a top-class 200-metre sprinter, but is not expected to chase the 200/400 double at the Rio Games. Her preference is likely to be the 400, and the long-legged quartermiler would fancy her chances of following in the strides of another Bahamian, 2004 Olympic one-lap champion Tonique Williams. Miller enjoyed many on-track successes as a teen, setting the stage for her 2015 World Championship silver and her bid for Olympic gold at Rio 2016. At the tender age of sixteen, she became a world junior champion, capturing the under-20 400-metre title in Moncton, Canada, in 2010. In 2011, she was still eligible to compete in the under-18 category, so it was no surprise when the young Bahamian struck gold at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Villeneuve d’Ascq, France. But Miller was
unable to make a successful defence of her under-20 title at the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona, the theneighteen-year-old finishing fourth in the final. Three weeks later, Miller made her Olympic debut in London. The memory is not a pleasant one. She pulled up injured in the opening round of the 400 metres, and her season was over. Miller’s 2013 IAAF World Championship outing in Moscow was a far better experience. Though still a junior, she performed with distinction, earning a lane in the 200-metre final. In the championship race, the baby of the field finished fourth in 22.74 seconds. The 2014 season was Miller’s first as a full-fledged senior athlete, and she celebrated with the 400-metre bronze at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland. She moved up to silver at the 2015 outdoor Worlds. The Florida-based athlete is hoping to take the next step at Rio 2016, and become the latest Bahamian golden girl.
Date of birth: 15 April, 1994 Height: 1.85 m Weight: 69 kg Personal bests: 22.14 (200), 49.67 (400)
WWW.CARIBBEAN-AIRLINES.COM
61