The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) launched the two-day World Relays Championships as what it claimed was part of the sport’s necessary evolution and the innovative gamble came up trumps after a hugely successful inaugural event.
Played out in front of near-capacity 15,000-strong crowds in tropical weather at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium in the Bahamian capital, athletes put on a show not to be forgotten.
There might not have been Usain Bolt, but there were three world records, one in the 4x200m by the Jamaican sprint squad anchored by Yohan Blake, breaking the previous best set in 1994 by a US quartet that included Carl Lewis.
Photo: Reuters
The Kenyans touched down in Nassau with two world records in mind, both in the 1,500m. And they did not fail, smashing both, the men by 14 seconds and the women by a whopping 32 seconds.
It was traditional powerhouse the US who won the “golden baton” by topping the medals table, winning five of the 10 events, only two of which, the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, are included on the world and Olympic calendar.
The event and host country both got glowing reports from IAAF president Lamine Diack.
“The IAAF’s faith in the innovative IAAF World Relays, a new event with a new presentation concept, and the Bahamas’ ability to deliver a top global sports entertainment product have been richly rewarded this weekend,” Diack said.
“In the ‘sun, sea and sand paradise’ that the Bahamas markets itself, we have experienced a true sporting paradise which has excelled beyond our expectations. The people have embraced the IAAF World Relays and the noise of their support will be left ringing in our memories for many years to come,” he said.
The atmosphere engendered in the stadium, aided by a vibrant military brass band and carnival dancers, and sometimes found woefully lacking in other major meets, was also hailed by numerous athletes.
“The atmosphere was amazing, just that Caribbean vibe,” British sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey said.
“The crowd was cheering all the way around and it was beautiful,” local hope Christine Amertil added.
“The crowd was amazing. It almost seems as though the crowd is Bahamian and Jamaican, but I love the energy of the crowd. I’m really looking forward to coming back next year,” Jamaica’s Natasha Hastings said.
Anyika Onuora, part of Britain’s silver-medal-winning 4x200m team, said: “I would like to speak to the organizers, the IAAF, so they can have all competitions held here in the Bahamas. This place is just so amazing.”
The Bahamas are trying to boost their sports-tourism image and were quick to volunteer to host the World Relays, which also meant stumping up US$1.4 million in prize money.
“You’re always asking when we will introduce new events,” Diack said. “We looked for new event hosts and the Bahamas was ready. We were considering 2015, but the local organizing committee said they were ready for 2014.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier