By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER making his global debut at the Olympic Games, Bahamian sprinter Ian Kerr is back for an encore at the World Championships.

Kerr, 29, was given an invite by World Athletics based on his world ranking to compete in the men’s 200 metres at the championships that will run from September 13-21.

“I feel overwhelmed at the thought of it,” Kerr said. “My year has been very inconsistent but I still ran fast enough to make the team.”

He will be one of two male sprinters to represent The Bahamas at the championships. The other is Grand Bahamian Terrence Jones Jr, who will be entered in the men’s 100m.

During his  specialty in the half-lap race, Kerr has run a personal best of 20.33, but this year he has posted a season’s best of 20.42 at the Star Athletics Sprint Series in Winter Garden, Florida in June.

The runner up to Stephen Gardiner at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Championships last month in Nassau said he’s hoping that things will turn around for him in Tokyo.

“All of my workouts are short and explosive, in the gym and on the track,” said the former swimmer, who competed along with his brother, Kohen.

“All I can do now is make sure my mind is ready. But, if I’m not ready by the time I get to Tokyo, I’m in trouble.”

The reason he believes he will be in trouble is because of what is expected at the championships. 

“I love getting a chance to compete against the best in the world,” he stressed. “It makes it feel like a big accomplishment.”

And part of that accomplishment is being a member of Team Bahamas. 

“Team Bahamas is small, but everyone who made the team is ready to do their best,” Kerr said. “I believe that.”

As one of the two male sprinters on the team, Kerr said he and Jones will have a lot to look forward to. They will compete without Gardiner, who opted not to travel as he’s still mourning the death of his father, Stephen Gardiner Sr.

While Gardiner holds the national record at 19.75, which he posted in 2018, Kerr has ran the tenth fastest time by a Bahamian in 20.33 in 2024. 

The only two other active competitors ahead of him are Jones in second at 19.87 and fellow Olympian Wanya McCoy in third at 19.93. McCoy, coming off an injury, just missed making the team for the championships.

“Being one of the male sprinters on the team is a special feeling because I feel like I’m giving hope and motivation to the younger generation, so that they can do it as well,” he pointed out. 

Kerr, coming off a fourth-place finish at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships in Grand Bahama last month in 20.71, is going into the World Championships to give it his best shot.  

“My mindset when I get next to the competition,” he proclaimed. 

Coming off his appearance at the Olympics last year in Paris, France, where he made it to the second round of the men’s 200m, it has boosted his confidence for Tokyo.

“Being at the Olympics just gave me more confidence in myself, so no matter where I run, against whoever and no matter how packed the stadium,” he stated. “I’ll always be ready to run.”

If there’s one thing that he is disappointed in, it’s the fact that The Bahamas once again won’t have a men’s relay team in the 4 x 100m. The best time recorded this year was 38.57, but it wasn’t enough to get a spot at the championships. “I can only speak for the men’s 4x100m team, but I know that we were down that we did not qualify as a relay team,” said Kerr, who ran along with Adam Musgrove, Jones and Wanya McCoy for third place at NACAC behind Canada in a championship record of 38.05 and Jamaica in second in 38.53.

“But we were excited that we came so close to the national record at NACAC. Running so fast off little practice is a  testament to what we can really do once we put it all together.”

Hopefully just as he continues his progression on the international scene in the individual event, Kerr said he would like to see The Bahamas make its way back with a lane in the relay.