By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE successful staging of the inaugural IAAF World Relays in The Bahamas has received lavish praise from the sport’s top official and resulted in a $25 million boom for the economy.

Daniel Johnson, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, put that commercial estimate on the weekend event yesterday and told The Tribune that an economic group had been brought into the country to study the event’s impact.

“We did better than we expected and I am confident we passed the $25 million mark for one weekend,” he said, adding that he will make an official statement and give a breakdown of the figures tomorrow.

The well-received event “launched our brand of sports in paradise,” he said, adding that “everyone got to see just what we are capable of doing.”

The International Association of Athletics Federations president, Lamine Diack, also praised the staging of the two-day meet.

“The IAAF’s faith in the innovative IAAF World Relays, a new event with a new presentation concept, and The Bahamas’ ability to deliver a top global sports entertainment product have been richly rewarded this weekend,” he said in a statement. “In the ‘sun, sea and sand paradise’ that The Bahamas markets itself, we have experienced a true sporting paradise which has excelled beyond our expectations. The people have embraced the IAAF World Relays and the noise of their support will be left ringing in our memories for many years to come.”

Mr Johnson added that Bahamian officials will immediately begin renegotiating its bid to host next year’s event. Although the country has already been selected to be the host in 2015, Mr Johnson said: “We still have to put in an appropriate bid and we are very interested in it.”

He continued: “The event went fabulously well. This was the first major international event in the Bahamas and there were three world records in one weekend.”

“I want to thank the people of the Bahamas for what happened. It was a big undertaking. The passion showed, the national pride showed. I want to thank the president of the IAAF for his confidence in this country’s ability to host a major event. I want to thank the office of the prime minister.

“Police did a fabulous job of controlling and organising space around the area. I want to thank the Commissioner of Police for that. Defence Force officers were sharp and I want to thank the Defence Force for its participation. The cadets who handled action on the field and logistics, they did a great job.

“I want to thank the Local Organising Committee (LOC) executives led by Mr Keith Parker and the staff of my ministry, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. All the sponsors, clean-up crews, the Junkanoo orchestra – I want to thank them. And I don’t want to forget about Team Bahamas, who did us proud.”

While the men’s 4x400m quartet came closest to winning an event for the Bahamas, finishing second to the Americans on Sunday night, the country finished a respectable eighth in the overall standings.