Home|Sports|Johnson looking to introduce national sports academySports
Sheldon LongleySend an emailAugust 28, 2023 50 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
BUDAPEST, Hungary – Not only did The Bahamas not win a medal in Budapest, but there was no relay team from the country for the third successive world outdoor championships. It’s an unwelcome occurrence given the country’s rich history with relay running, and particularly not a good sign with the world relays set to return to The Bahamas in 2024.
What kind of representation will The Bahamas have at the 2024 World Relay Championships at home, and will it be good enough to qualify relay teams for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. The top 14 teams in the men and women’s 4×100 meters (m) relay, the men and women’s 4x400m relay, and the mixed relay, from the world relays, will qualify for Paris.
Convinced that an aggressive agenda needs to be pursued, chairman of the World Relays Bahamas 2024 Dr. Daniel Johnson said that the planned implementation of a national sports academy will go a long way in ensuring success for The Bahamas in the relays both at the world relays at home and the Paris Olympic Games.
The World Relays Bahamas 2024 is set for May 4-5, 2024, at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in New Providence, The Bahamas. The 2024 Olympics will be held July 26 to August 11, in Paris, France.
“This was really impressive what happened here in Budapest, and now all eyes are turning to The Bahamas for next year’s world relays. That will be our fourth edition of The Bahamas’ world relays, and we have to make sure it’s a fantastic event. Everyone is talking about it,” said Johnson, a former minister of youth, sports and culture. “We’re building around the world relays, planning some special events to the extent that no one has ever seen in sports.”
Johnson said the creation of the national sports academy, inclusive of a talent search from as early as next month, would pave the way for a respectable performance for the host nation at the world relays.
“When you look at other small island developing states around the world, they have really done well with national sports academies where they bring in expert assistance about twice per month. We are endeavoring for The Bahamas to have its national sports academy for the purpose of building better national teams,” said Johnson. “The one that jumps out at us right now is the world relays. As soon as next month, I believe that we have to start getting relay teams ready to compete. The people are out there. We just have to get them together in a structured environment and get them ready to run. We have the stars already.”
The Bahamas will have a golden opportunity to qualify relay teams for next year’s Olympics, just having to finish in the top 14 at the world relays at home next year. Johnson said it’s a situation that has to be taken advantage of, and the national sports academy, will pave the way.
Johnson said the idea behind the academy is to bring in college coaches to work with Bahamian athletes in assisting with their development. He said that could commence as early as next month. Already, a couple of Bahamian coaches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) system have pledged their support – Rolando ‘Lonnie’ Greene who is the head athletics coach at the University of Kentucky, and Leevan Sands who is an assistant coach with responsibility for jumps with Florida State University (FSU).
Johnson said following the world relays in May of next year, it would be the intention for the national sports academy to branch off into other areas and other sports.
“We have to begin with a specific goal in mind, which is a fantastic showing at the world relays; but after that, there are sports like baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball and others that need attention,” said Johnson. “To all of our national and elite athletes who need sports science, discipline training, injury prevention and sports psychology, we invite you to get on board. We will begin exposing them to this on the national level, and at the end of the day, have teams training at home.”
Just one Bahamian relay team qualified for the Budapest World Championships, the women’s 4x100m relay, but that team was unable to compete due to a conflicting schedule between one of the lead runners and her individual event, injuries to others, and simply a lack of legs.
The 19th World Athletics Championships wrapped up at the National Athletics Stadium in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday. There were just two finalists for The Bahamas – Devynne Charlton who was fourth in the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.52 seconds, and Anthonique Strachan who was sixth in the women’s 200m in 22.29 seconds.