By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE mother of “Golden Knight” Demetrius Pinder said her son is very distraught about being denied his chance for a second Olympic medal running for Team Bahamas in the men’s 4 x 400m relay in Rio de Janeiro.

Enamae Pinder, of Grand Bahama, said that her son is very hurt and having a difficult time dealing with the coaches’ decision to cut him from the relays, and not being able to defend his 2012 Olympic title.

Mrs Pinder contacted The Tribune yesterday very concerned about her son’s welfare. He is taking it hard and has “shut out” everyone, including his family, she said.

Bahamians were disappointed when Mr Pinder was disqualified for a false start in the opening heat of the 200m but his family and fans hoped he would be able to redeem himself in the relays and help Team Bahamas retain their gold medal.

The Bahamas team of Chris Brown, Michael Mathieu, Alonzo Russell and Steven Gardiner walked away in third place with the bronze medal, beaten by the US and Jamaica, which took the gold and silver, respectively. After being replaced in the relays, Mr Pinder called his family with the devastating news.

“When Demetrius called us that day, I thought my child was about to die,” said Mrs Pinder. She said her son told her that he had the fastest time over two of the runners who ran in the relay in Rio.

Following the devastation of not running the relay final, Mr Pinder reportedly cut off contact with everyone, including his family in Freeport, according to his mother.

“We could not even get in contact with him; he cut off contact from the world, and now he does not want to talk to anyone,” said the worried mother.

“He commented on Twitter that he is finished, and cut off himself from everybody, and that he doesn’t want to be bothered. At one point someone was saying he was threatening to do things to himself, and I pray God that does not happen.”

His sister was finally able to make contact with her brother by a text message on Sunday evening, according to Mrs Pinder.

“They called over there to see if he was okay, we found out he was fine. But he still has not spoken verbally, only by texting. We heard from him only twice since then where he is so distraught and hurt from what they did to him.”

Mr Pinder was still with the team in Brazil yesterday, and is expected to return to Texas.

The family is upset about what has happened and is now pursuing legal advice.

“We need a good reason as to why he was not put on that relay team. He was there for two weeks and he was fit to run,” said the runner’s mother.

“Demetrius is a gold medallist who went to Rio to defend his title. Why would they put someone (to run in his place) who was not even named as part of the relay team and say he was not fit? How could they assume he was not fit if they never give him a chance to prove himself?

“Demetrius left The Bahamas with the intention he was fit enough to run in the 200 metres and because he (had a) false start, he is not fit to run the 4 x 400 relay?”

Mrs Pinder feels that her son and The Bahamas were robbed of the opportunity for a gold medal because of the decision taken to cut Mr Pinder in the relay final.

She felt that team leader Chris Brown should have spoken up prior to the finals if he was not comfortable with her son being cut.

“Chris Brown got on radio and said he don’t know what went wrong in Rio why Demetrius was not placed on the team to run, and that he knew that they would have bring home the gold if Demetrius had run,” she said.

She claims that the team coaches did the same thing at the IAAF World Relays in The Bahamas when Mr Pinder ran in the 4 x 400m heats, but was excluded in the finals as the team took the silver medal.

Mrs Pinder said that four years of her son’s training and hard work went down the drain.

“You could image four years of training gone down the drain; you don’t know if you will live to see another four years to go to another Olympic Games, and they took him there as an athlete in top shape, there was nothing wrong with him.”

Stephen Newbold ran in the heats of the relay for The Bahamas and Gardiner ran in the final. Mr Pinder was the only member of the six-man squad not to feature in the event.

“I have already spoken to a lawyer and they will get what coming to them if they don’t give us a satisfied report as to why Demetrius did not run on that team. My son is an Olympic gold medallist who went to Rio in hopes of defending his title and they put in a junior athlete over Demetrius,” she said.

Mrs Pinder says she is having sleepless nights worrying about her son.

“This is very difficult and I cannot sleep because I cannot hear from my child; I don’t know what is going on with him. He is not talking to us. He has shut himself off from the world, and so what are we supposed to do?” she asked.

Mrs Pinder said she has posted her feelings on Facebook and has got a lot of support from persons who have responded.