SPORTS SECTION E
Russia Report
Olympics, Page 5
TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2016
Donald Thomas soars to victory with personal best By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net COMING off his sixth place in the high jump at the Herculis Grand Prix on Friday, Donald Thomas bounced back to pick up a victory with a personal best at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Budapest yesterday. Leading a three-man contingent of Steven Gardiner and Jeffery Gibson from the Bahamas, Thomas soared 2.37 metres or 7-feet, 9 1/4-inches to beat out Bohdan Bondarenko from Ukraine, who did 7-8 1/2 for second. Majd Eddin Ghazal from Cyprus got third with 7-7. Thomas’ performance was just off the Bahamas national record of 2.38m (7-9 3/4) that Troy Kemp set on July 12, 1997 in Nice,
France. He dedicated it to his 97-year-old grandfather Ralph Russell from Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama, who during his vacation in Orlando, Florida, encouraged him to leave “the bacon” and go for the “whole hog” at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “I felt good. Training is coming along really nice,” said Thomas in an interview with The Tribune after his performance. “I had a setback in May with a small injury, so I had to work my way back to form.” Thomas, the winner of a medal in all the major international competitions except the Olympics, said the result was significant because it’s the highest he has ever jumped. “The competition was intense with a lot of key jumpers. I be-
lieve in time the national record will come, but I was just chasing it today,” he said. “I really just wanted to be competitive and leave healthy. “I believe if I had pushed it to the max, I would have jumped 2.41m (7-10 3/4) today, but I relaxed after 2.37m (7-9 1/4) with the competition already in hand.” Thomas, 32, will be heading to Panama today where he will resume his training before he makes the trek to Rio with the Olympic team that will be announced by the Bahamas Olympic Committee tomorrow. Also at the meet, national 400m record holder Steven Gardiner clocked 45.28 seconds for third place behind Grenada’s reigning Olympic champion Kirani James, who won in 44.60 with Rio bound American Tony McQuay taking
second in 45.08. Gardiner’s time was off his season’s best of 44.46 and his national record of 44.27 that he set last year. The 21-year-old Gardiner, who has made the transition from the 200m where he was a IAAF World Junior Championship finalist, will be making his Olympic debut as he intends to improve on his second round exit at his first IAAF World Championship appearance in Beijing last year. And Jeffery Gibson, coming off his IAAF World Championship bronze medal last year in Beijing, China, had to settle for fifth place in the men’s 400m hurdles in 50.22. Kelsuke Nozawa of Japan took the tape in 49.26, followed by Republic of South Africa’s LJ Van Zyl in 49.78. Rasmus Magi of Estonia was third in 49.79 and Great
Britain’s Rhys Williams came in fourth in 50.01. Gibson, the 25-year-old national record holder at 48.17, has done a season’s best of 48.96. He will be heading to Rio for his debut at the Olympics as well after winning the NACAC Under-23 title and placing third in the 400m in Irapuato, Mexico, in 2012. While the elite athletes were in action yesterday, the junior athletes will begin competition today at the IAAF World Under-20 Championship at the Zawisza Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Shaquania Dorsett, 18, will run out of the first of six heats in the women’s 400m. She will be in lane two with a season and personal best of 52.50 seconds. Dorsett, back at the interna-
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NATIONAL BEACH SOCCER TEAM 3RD IN NATION’S CUP
AN ARTIST’S impression of the Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium. The Bahamas Government has finally announced that work on the construction of the new stadium will finally commence.
A ‘breath of fresh air’ for baseball in the Bahamas
By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
opposite the Government High School at a cost of $21,351,507.55. “On this occasion, I want us to remember our heroes,” Prime Minister Perry Christie said. “I think of Reno Brown, who was a long time executive; I remember the night that Wenty Ford pitched a close game in the Major League and how we hurdled at the home of Allan Jackson, another great contributor to the sport, to watch the game. “I’m a long time associate of Ed Armbrister, who was involved in that controversial batting incident for the Cincinnati Reds. This point has arrived at through the sweat and glorification of baseball by many who have passed on to their enternal reward and others who are still around like Asa Ferguson.” Christie saluted those persons who worked tirelessly to get the stadium off the ground, mentioning Senator Greg Burrows, who started Freedom Farm, as
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n October 7, 2014, the Bahamas Baseball Association and the Bahamas Baseball Federation agreed to resolve their lengthy dispute and work together for the common good of the sport. Now two years later, the Bahamas Government has finally announced that work on the construction of the new Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium will finally commence. The latest occurrence was like a “breath of fresh air” for the sport, which has produced more players in the pipeline of professional baseball from the youth level without a proper stadium since the original Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium was demolished in 2006. Woslee Construction has been contracted by the Ministry of Works and Urban Development to construct the 4,500-seat stadium
PRIME MINISTER PERRY CHRISTIE
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By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas men’s national team had their first opportunity to compete against elite competition during their European Tour as they continue preparation for the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The Bahamas finished third at the Beach Soccer Worldwide sanctioned 2016 Nation’s Cup in Linz, Austria. Team Bahamas defeated Slovakia 6-4 in the third place game Sunday night at the event which also featured the host country and the Czech Republic. The Bahamas opened competition with a 3-2 loss to the Czechs, while Austria also defeated Slovakia 3-2 on opening day. The defending champion Czechs, following their advancement to the second leg of the Euro Beach Soccer League, went on to win the Cup with a 2-0 shutout of Austria. The tournament held true to form as the Czech Republic came in as the highest ranked team of the group at 36, Austria second at 51, the Bahamas ranked third at 56 and Slovakia fourth at 70. The Czechs, Germany and Tahiti have all won the competition in Linz recently while Hungary claimed the title in Prague four years ago. The Bahamas left for Switzerland on July 11 and will travel throughout Europe for a six-week training camp. “This camp is obviously very significant in our preparation. In order for the team to compete at the World Cup in the top level of beach soccer, the camp will expose them to several of the top teams in Europe
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Bahamas 7th overall at CUT Track & Field Championships By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net THROUGH no fault of their own, Team Bahamas finished seventh after they were eventually able to compete at the 16th Caribbean Union of Teachers Track and Field Championships. The 40-member team, which was only able to compete on the final day of the two-day meet, finished with a total score of 157 points and won 11 medals at the AO Shirley Recreation Grounds in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Expecting to leave Nassau a day ahead of the meet, Team Bahamas was left stranded at the Lynden Pindling International Airport when they discovered that they were not booked on their respective flights as they prepared for departure.
The Tribune understands that the travel accommodations were to be handled jointly between the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association (BAAAs) as well as the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT). The female segment of the team finished eighth in their division with 83 points while the males finished seventh with 79 points. The Bahamas was proficient in the field with each of their gold medals won in jumps or throws. In the Under-13 Boys High Jump, Ahmad Evans shared the gold medal and new CUT record of 1.63 metres with Zion Higgins of St Kitts and Nevis. Mateo Smith also won gold in the U-13 Boys Long Jump where he took the lead with his very first jump of 5.19m and maintained for the win. Joseph Daxon won gold in the
U-15 Boys Shot Put with a throw of 13.02m, also recorded on his first attempt in competition. Gabrielle Murphy won gold in the U-13 Girls Shot Put with a throw of 8.08m. Demazvia Dean took silver in the U-15 Girls Long Jump with a leap of 5.11m while Darvinique Dean won silver in the U-9 Girls 150m in a time of 23.37 seconds. Deangelo McKie took silver in the U-13 Boys 200m in a time of 24.80 while Megan Moss was also second in the U15 Girls event in 24.97. Middle distance runners also netted a pair of silver medals for the Bahamas. Indea Cartwright finished second in the girls’ event in 2:21.88 while Kendrick Major was second in the boys’ event in 2:04.57. The U-13 Boys 4x100m relay team was the lone medal winners
for Team Bahamas in the event. The team of Deangelo McKie, Antonio Bethel, Mateo Smith and Otto Laing finished second in 48.09. The meet came down to a thrilling finish, decided in the final race, the U-15 Boys 4x100m. Jamaica and Barbados were tied headed into the event and Jamaica emerged with the win to emerge as champions for the second consecutive meet. Jamaica ended the 2016 CUT Games with a total of 516 points, while Barbados finished second with 512 points. St Kitts was third with 317 points, Antigua and Barbuda was fourth with 299 points and the host country BVI rounded out the top five with 266 points. Other participating countries included Anguilla (235), Bermuda (114), Nevis (108), Grenada (83), St Lucia (64) and Cayman Is-
lands (16). The meet was created as a result of the CUT’s recognition of the need to provide the young athletes with some regional competition. There was also recognition by the CUT that sports has a significant role to play in the regional integration process. The CUT’s biennial championships was first organised in Barbados in 1986. According to its website - www. cutgames.org - the games are a series of events expected to bring together approximately 700 of the best athletes between the ages of 8-15, along with coaches, from 23 countries in the region, in the spirit of Caribbean unity and friendly competition. The mission statement of the CUT suggests it is an organisation devoted to unity and co-operation between both the youth and teachers of the Caribbean.