By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

A year ago, he officially retired from track and field, having left his mark as a member of the men’s 4 x 400 metre national record holders. But Avard Moncur said he was thrilled to be back in the atmosphere as a Bahamian ambassador at the inaugural IAAF World Relays Bahamas.

“The stage was set and definitely being a Bahamian, as a small country, it was just tremendous for us to do it in such a classy way,” said Moncur, who got a rare opportunity to walk out on the track with some of his team-mates during the official opening ceremonies on Saturday.

“If there was anything crazy that went on in the background, I have no clue, but from what I saw it was fantastic.”

Moncur, a former national 400 metre record holder at 44.64 seconds in 2001 when he won the IAAF World Championship title, in addition to the 4 x 400m crown, said he was impressed with the amount of athletes like himself who excelled at the world level.

“I had no clue that there was that many and all of them were not there,” said Moncur, who shared the centre stage with Frank Rutherford, Troy Kemp, Pauline Davis-Thompson, Chandra Sturrup, Eldece Clarke, Debbie Ferguson, Tonique Williams, Nathaniel McKinney, Dennis Darling, Dominic Demeritte, Shaunae Miller, Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands, Andrae Williams, Tim Munnings, Carl Oliver and Troy McIntosh.

“For such a small country with 300,000 people, to have as many World Championship and Olympic medallists out there is just amazing. So I was pleased to be a part of it. It was so good to know that I was a part of history and there is still more to come.”

The 35-year-old graduate of SC McPherson and Auburn University teamed up with Nathaniel McKinney, Andrae Williams and veteran Christopher ‘Fireman’ Brown to establish the national record of 2:57.32 until Brown, Demetrius Pinder, Michael Mathieu and Ramon Miller shattered it with their impressive 2:56.72 for the gold at the much celebrated 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

On Sunday, Moncur got to watch the team of LaToy Williams, Demetrius Pinder, Brown and Michael Mathieu run the third fastest time ever by a Bahamian team in 2:57.59 for the silver behind the United States. Moncur said Brown must be commended for his longevity at such a high level.

“Chris is a great leader and he always wanted to be successful. I always wanted it too, but I think he was more passionate about it than me,” Moncur said. “Even when we were not thinking it was possible, he was speaking it into existence, so it just goes to show that anything possible could happen.

“The fact that he’s still there grooming those guys means that we have a bright future ahead of us and there will still be a lot of runners behind him when he leaves so I’m really excited about the future of our 400 metre runners. We may not have the large pool of runners to select from like the United States, but for the past decade, we have consistently been ranked in the top three, so that is significant.”

After dealing with a nagging injury up to last year when he tried to make a comeback, Moncur said he saw the handwriting on the wall and decided that it was time for him to officially retire. Now he has turned his attention to coaching as he ventures into life after track and field.

“I miss it, but I enjoy watching it from the stands,” he said. “I can now relax knowing that there is a bright future for track and field and the men’s 400 metres in the Bahamas.”

For the past four years as he tried to keep strides with his track career, Moncur has been coaching at the high school level in Atlanta, Georgia, and he hopes that he will eventually follow in the footsteps of some noted Bahamians who are making their presence felt at the NCAA division one level.

“I got a chance to coach Teray Smith last year and now he’s with Henry Rolle, so there are multiple ways that we can contribute to the development of track and field, be it here in the Bahamas or in the United States,” Moncur stated. “There are people like Henry Rolle, Lonnie Greene, Norbert Elliott and George Cleare who are creating an atmosphere for our athletes to reach the world-class level. So whatever way I can contribute to that, I will do it.”