By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

THERE has been much public debate over a controversy that has brewed because of the fact that the Bahamas Olympic Committee has not been respected for the role that it plays in the landscape of sports in the country.

The BOC, from its inception, has been the watchdog for sports in the country. It’s the highest official sporting body and whether we like it or not, participation in the top regional and global games have to go through the BOC.

The BOC is responsible for teams that go to the Central American and Caribbean Games, the Pan American Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games, not the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations or any other association or federation, whose teams and athletes get to compete in these competitions.

The International Olympic Committee, which is the highest authority in the world of sports, doesn’t recognise any local association or federation, but they collaborate with the Olympic movement established within each country. There are 206 registered Olympic movements around the world and the Bahamas has been recognised by the IOC since becoming a member in 1952. Since then, The Bahamas has participated in every games, held tradi- tionally every four years, except for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Russia, due to an American-led boycott to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

There’s been much public debate over the selection of two female athletes for the mixed 4 x 400 metre relay team and people have also indicated that the BAAA has the rights to select whoever they want because they have the athletes.                      

No athlete or official will get the chance to compete at any of these competitions, if they are not sanctioned by the BOC, despite the fact that the BOC doesn’t have any athletes. They need the athletes just as the athletes need the BOC in order to compete.

That’s just the way the organisational chart is set up.

So how did we get this debacle over who should be on the team and not?

This is not the first time it has happened and it will certainly not be the last until the BOC is given the respect that it deserves, whether the associations agree or not.

The Bahamas Basketball Federation men’s national basketball team was the last of the dominoes to fall in the selection process for Team Bahamas for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, scheduled for July 2 to August 11.

Yet, more than a week later when they fell short of qualifying for the games, losing in the final of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Valencia, Spain to Spain on Sunday, July 3, the BOC was still waiting to announce the team going to Paris.                       

When asked at the long-awaited press conference on Tuesday night, BOC president Rommel Knowles revealed that it was because of the deliberations between the BAAAs president Drumeco Archer on the team selection for the mixed 4 x 400m relay.

Without approval from the BOC, Archer and his executives released an official team listing to World Athletics, the governing body for track and field, announcing that Bahamian Shania Adderley was not included on the team. He even made a public declaration in the media that both went viral.

Obviously, the approval was not granted by the BOC, who in turn revealed that Adderley was indeed on the team and Lacarthea Cooper, who had finished third in the BAAAs National Championships, was not.

The 16-year-old Adderley, who had come to New Providence to compete in the pregame show for the World Relays in May at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, was asked to step up to compete with Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Steven Gardiner and Alonzo Russell after it was discovered that Anthonique Strachan was unable to go because of an injury that eventually led to her shutting down the rest of her season.

There was much outcry when the team failed to advance to the final and Adderley was ridiculed over social media. She sucked it up, regrouped and got the job done in the B final, helping the trio of Miller-Uibo, Gardiner and Russell to book the Bahamas’ only ticket in a relay event at the games.

Adderley became an instant celebrity as many people, including the BAAA, lauded her gallant come-back effort. Even Archer was one rejoicing over the achievement of this young rising athlete.

Fast forward to the BAAA’s National Open Track and Field Championships, which was combined with the juniors and seniors, but switched at the last minute from the weekend of Friday to Sunday to Wednesday to Friday.

To say the least, it was probably one of the least attended nationals with very few fans and so many events not even having a full slate of competitors to compete in.

With The Bahamas only eligible to compete in the mixed relay, the focus then switched to the top performers in the open 400 metres being eligible to compete for their spots on that relay team.

The question is: Was this a criteria following the team booking its ticket to Paris?

I know there are many who feel that a trial should have taken place, but was that made public knowledge?

One of the male athletes named to the relay pool didn’t even run in the open 400m, but he was recommended and subsequently named to the team based on his time. But there was no outcry over the next competitor to finish in the open men’s 400m.

I think the BAAA did a disservice to the athletes in selecting the athletes for this mixed relay team, considering that the relay pool should be made up of six competitors.

If we include Miller-Uibo as the top prospect, then they only needed two more females. On the men’s side, if they considered Gardiner and Russell as the top two contenders, then it’s down to just one.

All others should have been included as alternates.

With the exception of Gardiner, not one of the members named to the relay pool made the qualifying standard for the 400m. 

Miller-Uibo, coming off the birth of her child, was selected based on her world rankings. But there's some uncertainty as to whether or not Miller-Uibo and Gardiner will run the mixed relays as they were not mentioned in the pool. They were only listed for their individual 400m.

So that being the case, it’s fair to say that the BAAAs selection of the top three competitors would include Cooper as the third place nisher in the Nationals, which would mean that based on their calculation, she would get the spot over Adderley.

But it still comes down to the discretion of the BOC in who gets to make up the team in collaboration with the BAAA, not the other way around where the BAAA dictates to the BOC on who gets to go and who doesn’t.

All of this public outcry and embarrassment on these two innocent athletes could have been avoided if the BOC and the BAAA could have come together and collaborated before any team selection was announced.                      

Yes, the BAAAs nationals was held and yes the BOC has voiced their displeasure in them being called the Olympic trials. I think, especially with the junior and senior nationals being combined, they should not have been dubbed the Olympic trials.                                           

I think the junior and senior nationals should be separate and apart, allowing the junior athletes to compete with their peers in their own setting, while the senior athletes get to focus on their own competition.

Was it because the BAAA felt they didn’t have suf cient entries for the senior nationals that they combined the juniors? Then it means that they need to do a better job of enticing the senior athletes to compete in the nationals. 

It’s not fair to both Adderley and Cooper because they both did what they had to do to secure their berths on the team. I’m glad that the BOC decided that it was only fair to eventually take both of them.

And while some people are suggesting that because Adderley is so young, she can wait for the next four-year cycle to get ready for the Olympics is hogwash because if she didn’t run in the World Relays, The Bahamas may not have a team qualified.

So the BOC is in their right to select Adderley to the team if they so desire. 

I just feel that more discussion should be made on the way forward in terms of how athletes are selected.

Maybe the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture can also be a part of it, after all, they are spending the people’s money to help facilitate these teams.