GET YOUR REAR IN GEAR HOSTS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL FUN RUN WALK IN YEAR TWO

By TENAJH SWEETING tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Colon Cancer Coalition hosted yet another successful Get Your Rear in Gear (GYRIG) event in memory of the late Andrea Darville and to raise awareness for colon cancer in The Bahamas.

With colon cancer being the second most common cancer in The Bahamas, event organisers hoped to gather lots of support from the general public for a worthy cause. In only year two of the GYRIG 5k fun run/walk event, organisers were able to double the amount of participants in the colon cancer awareness event, making it a success.

The event kicked off at 6:30am sharp on Saturday at Goodman’s Bay Park with approximately 200 people joining this year’s 5k fun run/walk. Participants could be seen running or walking along the Baha Mar strip in their orange colon cancer t-shirts. Many of the participants in this year’s event decided to partake for personal reasons.

Duval Munnings, a participant in the 2023 GYRIG run, talked about why he decided to run in Saturday’s race. “I registered in honour of my father Kevin Munnings. I lost him a year ago and I just wanted to run in his honour and his memory and also to support the cancer society,” Munnings said.

Munnings said it felt good to give back and donate to

Special Olympics

FROM PAGE 15 making their appearances with their special events taking place just before the finals of both the 100 and 200m during the games.

At this late stage in the games, Sands said it will only include the participation of Special Olympic athletes from the Bahamas, but they have formed a committee to ascertain how they can include Special Olympics in all of their future events.

Trials

FROM PAGE 15 the Cancer Society and, despite it being a difficult run, he enjoyed the fellowship among other runners.

Similar to Munnings, Odinga Sawyer, another participant in the race, shared what made him join this year’s GYRIG 5k run.

“It feels great. I like to support stuff like this, my brother passed from cancer and I also run so I figured if I could take part it might as well be for a good cause,” Sawyer said.

Event organisers Emily Darville and Jackie Evans were impressed with the amount of people that came out to support the event.

Emily Darville said a week before her sister passed away she had told her about the event idea and connected her with the director of the Colon Cancer Coalition, giving her the keys needed to make sure the event went on even in her passing.

“I would like to think

Andrea is pleased with the work I’m doing. She entrusted me with her final project GYRIG Bahamas 5k fun run/walk. I’m sure she’s smiling down on us each year, cheering us on with her vibrant smile and personality,” Darville added.

Darville and other event organisers will seek to carry on Andrea’s legacy for years to come as they will look to host a 2024 GYRIG event. For persons that wish to keep up with the event, they can find the page on Facebook at Get Your Rear in Gear Bahamas.

Williams, speaking on behalf of his members, said from the phone call to Sands, they got the ball rolling and now it’s a reality. “At a time when everybody is talking about inclusion, whether it be government agents or corporate Bahamas, civil organisations, if you know anything about Special Olympics, inclusion is the watch word for Special Olympics,” he said. “With over 190 countries and over 200 programmes and over five million athletes from around the world, inclusion is the watch word. “For the organisers of CARIFTA

50, we are happy that you have included us in the games.” Williams revealed that they have six males and one female, including Abaco resident Katelyn Romer, versatile Michael Miller, Grand Bahamian Justin Miller and 400m specialist Deron ‘the King’ Forbes. They are all waiting to put on a show for the public when they come out to watch them compete on the biggest stage in the Bahamas. He noted that the athletes will be using the games to showcase some of the athletes who will be representing the Bahamas to be the best athletes they could be on and off the field. veteran coach Luciano Spalletti, who has not taken a team to the Champions League quarterfinals since 2008 with Roma. This is Spalletti’s seventh try since then, though his first with Napoli after falling short with Roma, Zenit St. Petersburg and Inter Milan. Inter, which has not been to the quarterfinals since going out at that stage as the defending champion in 2011, takes a 1-0 lead to Porto in a finely balanced game today.

Manchester City host Leipzig today with the teams tied at 1-1.

Napoli Rested

A uniquely congested European season split in two by a break for the World Cup promised surprises and Napoli perhaps has benefited from having star players rested. Prolific strikers Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were not involved in Qatar because their national teams Nigeria and Georgia, respectively, did not qualify.

Eintracht’s star striker Randal Kolo Muani did go to the World Cup, almost winning the final for France with a last-minute chance, but will not play this week. Kolo Muani is suspended because of his red-card tackle in the first leg. Also missing in Naples could be the German club’s fans who local authorities want to ban from the city following clashes in Frankfurt three weeks ago. Eintracht won a court injunction Saturday against the ban though further legal action is expected before Wednesday.

Madrid Favoured

The defending champion surely will not waste a three-goal lead against Liverpool in its own stadium. It is unlikely, though Madrid was eliminated as the title holder four years ago when taking a three-goal beating in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in the round of 16. That was against a rampaging Ajax, which won 4-1 to overturn a 2-1 first-leg loss.

Liverpool won that 2019 title but no team ever overcame a three-goal deficit in the second leg away from home in the Champions League.

Liverpool perhaps could do it if the team that crushed Manchester United with six second-half goals in the Premier League a week ago shows up in Madrid. Probably not with the version that lost 1-0 at Bournemouth on Saturday.

HOME COMFORTS according to Bowleg, will serve as the test run by the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) and Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) for the Oaktree Medical Center’s 50th CARIFTA Games, scheduled for April 8-10 at the same venue.

“The High School National Championships and the CARIFTA trials will provide student athletes from throughout the Bahamas the opportunity to showcase their athletic prowess with the hopes of qualifying for the CARIFTA Games,” Bowleg. Bowleg said this will be a memorable venture and he encourages all student athletes competing in the event to remain optimistic and at the Special Olympic World Games in Berlin, Germany, June 17-25.

He encouraged the Bahamian public to come out with their junkanoo music and cheer on the student athletes as they vie for their spots on the team to represent the Bahamas at the games.

Zane Lightbourne, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, said he’s always delighted to be a part of any event that highlights the prowess of the Bahamian young athletes as a part of the country’s 50th Jubilee Independence celebrations.

Lightbourne said their ministry joins in the enthusiasm of the student athletes as they anticipate the shattering of old records and the emergence of new superstars as they go for gold, not just in the event, but at the CARIFTA Games.

While they have a board of directors, a director and a host of coaches, Williams said they are always looking for volunteers to be able to assist the programme. Interested persons can contact him at gilbert@ specialolympicsbahamas. org or call 356-2433 or 359-3558.

As the games is fast approaching, Deveaux said he’s been pleased with the progress that the LOC is making, and he wants to encourage them to keep up the good work.

Sands, the president of NACAC, said he remembers in the 1980s when the split took place and that led to the formation of the National High School Track and Field Championships, which created an avenue to bring all schools under one umbrella again. He noted since the formation of the Nationals under the presidency of the late Dr Bernard Nottage, successive presidents in the BAAA have staged the Nationals almost every year, but now it’s being done in collaboration with both ministries as they seek to bring the sport back to the level that it once enjoyed.

“Nelson Mandela once said sports can change the world. It has the power to inspire and to unite and it speaks a language that all people can understand,”

Janeen McCartney, the project manager for the LOC, said that while they endorse all that has been said in the inclusion of Special Olympics Bahamas in the games, they have taken the first step and she hopes that the baton will be passed on to the other regional countries to carry on the mantle in the future.

And Pauline Davis, the Dame of the games, congratulated Williams for what he and his team are doing with Special Olympics Bahamas.

And she said she is just really excited to see the athletes compete in the games.

Sands said. “NACAC is proud to be a part of this event and to support all of the athletes as they compete.”

Archer, the president of the BAAA, said it’s a special day in track and field with the High School National Championships and the CARIFTA trials taking place at the same time, bringing together the private and public schools in keen competition like they did before the split between the private and the public schools.

“This is the start of a brand-new day for track and field,” Archer said. “I would go on a limb to say that is an opportunity for us to showcase athletes, not only from New Providence, but every island in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.”

He congratulated both ministries for having the foresight to

Manchester City is unbeaten at home in the Champions League for more than four years. That run includes a 6-3 win over Leipzig in the group stage two seasons ago. City also has also won all six home games in domestic competitions in 2023. Extending the streak to seven will send the club to the quarterfinals for the sixth straight year under coach Pep Guardiola in its quest to be European champion for the first time. Guardiola last lifted the trophy 12 years ago with Barcelona.

DRAWS ON FRIDAY stage the dual event, which will provide an opportunity for the BAAA to get a glimpse of what is to come at this year’s CARIFTA Games.

The quarterfinals draw is made Friday at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. It is the first stage that teams from the same country can face each other. Pairings will also be drawn for the semifinals, plotting a path to the final on June 10 in Istanbul.

When asked how the event will be operated, Archer said each school will only have two athletes who will be allowed to score points for their team, but they will not be limited to any number of athletes who will be allowed to participate in any event.

He noted that athletes who are not registered by their school can register individually and those who are out of school or are in college, but are still eligible for CARIFTA, will be allowed to participate as well.

The competition will be taking place in the under-14, under-17 and under-20 divisions for both girls and boys.