- Sheldon Longley
- Nov 6, 2023
- 0
Rhema Otabor won the silver medal for The Bahamas in the women’s javelin at the 19th Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, over the weekend. She turned in a personal best throw of 60.54m (198’ 7”). ANTONIO SAUNDERS
Bahamian Donald Thomas won a bronze medal in the men’s high jump at the 19th Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
The Bahamas picked up a silver and bronze at the 19th Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, over the weekend, ending the multi-sport event with three total medals – one silver and two bronze – and in a three-way tie with Guyana and Haiti for 25th in the medal standings.
Both of The Bahamas’ medals over the weekend came in athletics. Turning in medal performances at the Coliseo del Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez in Santiago were Rhema Otabor in the women’s javelin and Donald Thomas in the men’s high jump.
Otabor is progressively getting better. She had her personal best throw on her first attempt and had five throws over 57m (187’) in the competition. She is now just about three meters away from Laverne Eve’s national record of 63.73m (209’ 1”) and about three and a half meters away from the automatic qualifying mark for next year’s Olympic Games – 64m (209’ 11”). The silver medal winning throw was Otabor’s first over 60m (196’ 10”) in her career and she has now set new personal best marks four times this season.
Thomas also competed on Friday and leapt 2.24m (7’ 4”) to finish third in the men’s high jump. The former world champion now has completed the medal set at the Pan Am Games, winning gold in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2011, silver in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2007, and bronze in Santiago this year. Luis Enrique Zayas, of Cuba, won the gold medal with a clearance of 2.27m (7’ 5-1/4”), Luis Joel Castro, of Puerto Rico, cleared the same height as Thomas, but edged the Bahamian for the silver medal based on number of knockdowns.
Zayas was clean in the competition up until the 2.27m height while Thomas had two knockdowns each at 2.15m (7’ 0-1/2”), 2.21m (7’ 3”) and 2.24m before going over the bar on his third attempt at all three heights.
Despite getting a late start to his career, Thomas, now 39, has won at least one medal at a number of events. The Olympic medal is the only medal of significance that eludes.
In sailing, Joshua Higgins finished 17th overall out of 22 sailors, competing in the Dinghy – ILCA 7 event on the waters of the Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico in Algarrobo, Chile. He ended the 10-race series with 177 total points, 154 net, and was the only Bahamian competing in sailing, representing the country in the International Laser Class Association (ILCA) Dinghy class.
Higgins, a native of Harbour Island, finished 17th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 19th, 20th, 19th, 15th, 17th and 15th in the 10 races of the series. The worst finish was thrown out, leading to the 154 net points.
In golf, Bahamian Richard Gibson finished with a five-over par 77 for 28th out of 30 golfers in the first round of the men’s individual competition at the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago. In the second round, he shot an even-par 72 to finish in a three-way tie for 21st in that round; in the third round, he had a one-over par 73 to finish in a four-way tie for 24th in that round; and in the fourth and final round, he turned in a three-over par 75 to finish in a tie for 27th in that round.
Overall, Gibson shot a nine-over par 297 in the four rounds, finishing tied for 27th overall.
As mentioned, The Bahamas finished in a three-way tie with Guyana and Haiti for 25th in the medal standings with three medals – one silver and two bronze.https://0993f80b48fdffe523d174af434fa270.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
Otabor won the silver medal in the women’s javelin and Thomas won a bronze in the men’s high jump in athletics and the other bronze medal came from Lamar Taylor in the men’s 50m free in swimming. Taylor finished third in that event in a national record time of 22.13 seconds.
The Bahamas had 20 athletes competing in six disciplines at the games – tennis, sailing, swimming, athletics, golf and wrestling.