By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

“RUNNING Sideways: The Olympic Champion Who Made Track & Field History,” the biography of the Bahamian Golden Girl, earned Pauline Davis-Thompson the 2023 Coogan’s Book Award.

During the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Davis-Thompson was presented with the Biography of the Year for 2022 by Dave Johnson, the president of the Americas Sports Writers Association.

Also on hand for the presentation were North American, Central American and Caribbean president Mike Sands and World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

“I was stunned,” said Davis-Thompson, who first got the call a few weeks ago that she would receive the award at the championships. “I was already in shock from getting the first award for International Book Award.

“So within weeks of getting the two awards, I was ecstatic and out of my mind. I never knew that my book would touch those persons because I just wanted to write the book to bring attention to show in particular the BAAA and sporting bodies around the world that you need to be careful how you treat your athletes.”

Davis-Thompson, the famed 57-year-old Bahamian sprinter who captured individual medals in the 100m, 200 and 400m as well as a member of the women’s 4 x 100m relay team, was referring to all of the difficulties that she encountered with the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations, the governing body for track and field in the Bahamas.

“I was able to survive my depression because of the love of the Bahamian people,” Davis-Thompson said. “The extraordinary Bahamians who walk the streets every day showed me so much love,” Davis-Thompson said.

“I went to this place. A lady just put her hands on my shoulder and said ‘this shoulder carrying a lot of weight,’ I just burst out crying and in the middle of the restaurant, this lady hugged me and prayed for me.”

To her fellow Bahamian athletes who are following in her footsteps, Davis-Thompson advised them that when they are presented with “lemons, you make lemonade.

“I want you to keep pushing, keep striving, don’t ever give up. God has you covered.

“No man can do anything to you. They might slow you down with speed bumps, road blocks and hurdles, but they can’t stop you from achieving what you have to achieve.”

As a strong advocate for women in sports, Davis-Thompson said she got a chance to speak with sprinter Anthonique Strachan and hurdler Devynne Charlton, the only two members of Team Bahamas to make it to a final in Budapest.

“I told them to keep the faith. Keep pushing. Do not give in. Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Keep believing in themselves and one day they will mount that podium.”

Davis-Thompson, the first Bahamian female to become a Council Member for World Athletics, having served for 12 years, earned the Honorary Life Person Member of the IAAF, now known as World Athletics, which allows her to attend all international competitions hosted by the world’s governing body of the sport.

Davis-Thompson, who also served as a coach for the sport both locally and internationally, was given the Order of Merit Award in 2001 and was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003.