Bahamians take to the track in Doha; Miller-Uibo, Charlton and Strachan to compete

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Bahamian track and field athletes Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Devynne Charlton and Anthonique Strachan will kick off their 2022 Wanda Diamond League competition today, taking part in the Doha Diamond League competition at the Qatar Sports Club in Doha, Qatar.

Miller-Uibo will be running in the 400 meters (m), Charlton will compete in the 100m hurdles and Strachan will run in the 200m. All three women ran in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in March with Miller-Uibo winning the gold medal in the 400m, Charlton winning silver medal in the 60m hurdles and Strachan reaching the semifinals of the 60m dash.

Strachan, who is arguably in the best shape of her career, is coming off a season’s best time of 22.55 seconds in the 200m in Kingston, Jamaica, last weekend – her best time in eight years in that event. Earlier in the season, she ran a personal best of 10.99 seconds in the 100m – becoming just the seventh Bahamian in history to ever run under 11 seconds in the women’s 100m. Strachan was a guest on Guardian Radio’s ‘Talking Heads with Naughty’ on Wednesday and spoke about her performance over the weekend.

“I feel good overall. I am extremely confident in myself, and I want to see what I would be able to do in a big field,” Strachan said.

The Maximising Velocity and Power (MVP) Track and Field Club athlete will be running in a star-studded field today that will feature 2020 Olympic bronze medalist American Gabrielle Thomas. Also in that race is Strachan’s MVP teammate Jamaican Shericka Jackson, American Tamara Clark and Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith.

The women’s 200m is scheduled for 1:36 p.m. local time today, 6:36 a.m. in The Bahamas.

Miller-Uibo, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics 400m gold medalist, will hit the track to run her second 400m outdoor race this season after running 49.91 seconds in Clermont, Florida, last month. She enters the race as the favorite to win it. She will go up against 2020 Olympic 400m silver medalist Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic. Also in the field are Jamaicans Stephenie Ann McPherson and Candice McLeod – the fourth and fifth place finishers from Tokyo, Japan, respectively.

That race is scheduled for 12:04 p.m. local time – 5:04 a.m. in The Bahamas.

Charlton ran two 100m hurdles races for the season with her season’s best of 12.89 seconds coming in April in Lexington, Kentucky. The national record holder in that event will line up against the 2020 Olympics 100m hurdles silver medalist American Kendra Harrison. Jamaicans Britany Anderson and 2020 Olympics bronze medalist Megan Tapper will also be in that race.

They will take to the track at 1:02 p.m. – 6:02 a.m. (ET) in The Bahamas.

The Wanda Diamond League is a season long competition that features the world’s top track and field athletes vying to become Diamond League Champions.

After this meet is over, athletes will head to Birmingham, England, on May 21, where the Commonwealth Games will be held, for the second meet on the Diamond League calendar. This year, athletes will compete on the Diamond League circuit in cities such as Eugene, Oregon; Rabat, Morocco; Paris, France; Lausanne, Switzerland; Brussels, Belgium; and Zurich, Switzerland just to name a few. The season wraps up September 7-8 in Zurich.