ZNS broadcasters, which included respected sports figure and former Minister of Sports Mr. Neville Wisdom, seemed as perplexed as viewers, as the 4x400m ‘One Lane, One Island” races got started (the final two of five relay races scheduled for the pre-show junior event at the inaugural IAAF World Relays showcasing eight teams from Abaco, Eleuthera, Exuma, Andros, MICAL, Long Island/Cat Island, Grand Bahama and New Providence) and only two teams appeared on the tracks! Grand Bahama and New Providence!
What had happened? Had the family islands pulled out – (Oh how unfortunate, the poor souls not taking advantage of the opportunity – perception of sentiments – not a quote) Were they late? What?
Meanwhile in the warm up area, Family Island coaches were up in arms, as in the maze of ‘gate keepers’ and zones of the Stadium, some of their athletes were literally trapped, having run earlier races and were being held virtual prisoners by officials who seemingly did not understand the simple words – “I HAVE ANOTHER RACE TO RUN“!
It was an organizational blunder that rested squarely on the shoulders of we know not who, but the result was as many as 2 dozen or more family island athletes who traveled to New Providence, not having an opportunity to run on the world stage – a goal they had worked tirelessly to attain.
It may be easy to glaze over in the often blinding bright lights of the proverbial ‘center of the archipelago’, but for many young Bahamian athletes on Saturday, the One Lane One Island event started with promise and ended as a disaster. Winning and Losing is a natural part of any race….but not running?
