SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2016
Golden Moments
Rio Olympics, Page 8
Snapshot: Leevan Sands on the beat at Rio Olympics By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunrmedia.net RIO de Janeiro, Brazil — Although he has been busy getting ready to compete, Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands has been actively involved in social media. Sands, the national triple jump record holder who won’t get to compete until Monday when he and NCAA champion Latario Collie contest the preliminaries of the men’s triple jump, has been taking quick interviews with various members of Team Bahamas for his Snapshot. Among those he included were sprinter Teray Smith and quartermilers Alonzo Russell and Demetrius Pinder.
In the lead up to his return to the Olympics after he went down with a near career-ending injury at the last games in London, England in 2012, Sands has been active on social media, documenting his recovery process. And with the limited access into the Games Village where the athletes stay, Sands agreed to conduct one of two interviews for The Tribune. Here’s one that he did with sprinter Jamial Rolle, who will be contesting the men’s 100m along with Adrian Griffith and Shavez Hart. The trio will start competing in the heats on Saturday with the semi-final and final set for Sunday. Leevan: How has the experience been so far?
Jamial: “The experience has been awesome. I’m just taking it one day at a time and just focusing on the goal at hand.” Leevan: What are your expectations for the games? Jamial: “My expectations is to do better than I’ve ever done, run faster than I’ve ever ran before. Wherever that takes me, that’s up to me and God, but my goal is to just go out there and run a complete race, run a relaxed race, run a fast race, run an explosive race and let that be the fastest race that I’ve ever ran.” Leevan: How are you preparing, just a few days before track starts? Jamial: “Just a lot of relaxation. There’s not much you can do right now. Everything has been done.
It’s just focusing on doing what is impossible or what others feel is impossible, but I don’t think so. That’s pretty much it.” Leevan: “What has been your biggest experience so far and what has been your biggest disappointment so far? Jamial: “My biggest experience so far is just taking everything in. This is my second experience at the Olympics and my promise to myself was to enjoy every aspect of it, the competition and everything that comes with making the Olympics. In terms of disappointment, I haven’t had any because my mindset is to keep positive and everything has been great. I don’t have a complaint. Even if I do, it’s minute, not even worth talking about. Everything is great. It’s
Vanderpool-Wallace just shy of 100 free semi-final By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net RIO de Janeiro, Brazil — Having won a medal in all of the major international events except the Olympic Games, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace finished just two spots shy of qualifying for the semi-final of the women’s 100 metre freestyle yesterday. But she admitted that she has her sights set on her specialty in the 50m free on Friday. The most experienced member of the Bahamas’ three-member team was the last to see action after she opted not compete in the women’s 100m backstroke so that she can concentrate on the 50m free. Vanderpool-Wallace used the 100m free as a prelude to the shorter sprint and in the preliminaries, she touched the wall in 54.56 seconds to place seventh and 18th overall, missing out of the opportunity to make the top 16 to come back for the semi-final. “I was looking for that front end speed and that is what I have,” said Vanbderpool-Wallace, who is competing in the Olympics for the third time. “I just wanted to get in and used to the pool, so I’m excited about it. I feel great, so I’m real excited about going in the 50m.” Entered in the fifth of the six heat of the two lap race, Vanderpool-Wallace reached the halfway mark in her first 50m in a split of 26.11. However, she dropped off the pace coming back in 28.45. The heat was won by world record holder Cate Campbell of Australia, who added the Olympic record
ARIANNA Vanderpool-Wallace has her sights set on her specialty in the 50m free at the Rio Olympics on Friday. to her ledger with her winning time of 52.78. For VanderpoolWallace, she was just thrilled to be a part of the race. “I feel great. I’m getting older now, so for me to compete in a lot of events is kind of difficult,” said Vanderpool-Wallace, one of the elderstateswomen of the sport at age 26. “But I feel good and I’m ready to go.” In the 50m free, she will swim out of lane three in the 12th and final heat where she is considered
a favourite to win a medal. “I really just want to make the Bahamas proud,” said Vanderpool-Wallace, who is aiming to become the first Bahamian to win a medal in swimming at the Olympics. “I know that I have the entire population cheering me on and that means a lot to me. All of the people who are saying prayers, I feel it and I really want to say keep praying for Team Bahamas.” Having gotten her feet wet in
the 100m free, Vanderpool-Wallace said the two-lap race was a good indication of where she’s at going into the 50m. “It takes a lot of enery and a lot of training, but it was great,” she summed up. “I know I have a lot of speed to go out, so we will see what happens.” With seven of her team-mates here from Charlotte, North Carolina, Vanderpool-Wallace said she’s a little jealous because six of them have already medalled with one more to go and then it is all left up to her to clinch her own on Friday. “I hope so. That is the plan,” said Vanderpool-Wallace of getting her opportunity to ascend the dais to receive her medal as she completes the cycle of winning a medal at the Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games, the four most prestigious games in the world. Today, Joanna Evans will be back in the pool as she competes in her final event in her Olympic debut. The 18-year-old Grand Bahamian, who has already set two Bahamas national records in the women’s 400m and 200m freestyle respectively, will be competing in her specialty in the 800m. She will swim out of lane eight in the second of four heats, starting at 12:35 pm EST. Also on Friday as VanderpoolWallace completes her trip here in the 50m free, Emily Morley will be in the E final of the women’s single sculls, while the athletic competition will get underway with the qualifying rounds of the men’s 400m.
a positive mindset right now and that’s what we’re working with.” At the end of the interview, Sands jokingly said to Rolle, “not even the per diam,” to which there was no response. Seems as if Sands is ready to step into his next role as a sportscaster when he hangs out his jumping shoes. We wish Sands, who was recently elected as the new athletes’ representative during the BAAA National Open Track and Field Championships - the final trials for the Olympics - all of the best as he makes a complete circle four years after he went down in the final of the triple jump to getting back to the highest level of sports in the world.
BAHAMIANS IN ACTION THIS WEEK all times Bahamian Thursday Swimming 1.26pm: Joanna Evans Women’s 800m freestyle, heat 2, lane eight Final at 10.18pm Friday Swimming 1.02pm: Arianna VanderpoolWallace - Women’s 50m free, heat 12, lane three Athletics 8.05pm: Steven Gardiner, Chris Brown and Alonzo Russell - men’s 400m prelims 9.40pm: Ty’Nia Gaither Women’s 100m heats Saturday Athletics 10am: Shaunae Miller Women’s 400m heats 11am: Shavez Hart, Adrian Griffith and Jamial Rolle Men’s 100m heats 7.30pm: Men’s 400m semi-final 8pm: Women’s 100m semi-final 9.35pm: Women’s 100m final Sunday Athletics 7.30pm: Donald Thomas, Trevor Barry and Jamal Wilson - men’s high jump qualification. Final Tuesday, August 16, at 7:30pm 7.30pm: Women’s 400m semi-final 8pm: Men’s 100m semi-final 9pm: Men’s 400m final 9.25pm: Men’s 100m final
Proposed IFAF World Championships cancelled By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net A MEETING between government entities and several factions representing American football in the country has resulted in the cancellation of the proposed International Federation of American Football (IFAF) World Championships. Executives from the local governing body for American Football, the Commonwealth American Football League, and various representatives from local flag football leagues, sought to shed light on what they interpreted as mismanagement of the event by
the Bahamas American Football Federation and its Local Organising Comitteee for the World Championships. A new timetable for the event has been set targeting January as the early proposed date and a new LOC comprising CAFL and local flag football league members from the Bahamas Flag Football League (BFFL), the Grand Bahama Flag Football League (GBFFL) and the Abaco Flag Football League (AFFL). CAFL executive Michael Foster said the right decision was made to not host the event at this time with the event shrouded in controversy and not properly sanctioned.
“I hope now after this long battle that persons realise and appreciate what we were trying to accomplish. We expect in short order to be granted the status of recognition by the true legitimate IFAF. On the world stage we cannot imagine that we just played a part in crushing a hostile takeover of a rogue IFAF over the legitimate body despite whatever misfortune the legitimate President Wiking has. “We will now at any level in football have the hand to sanction whatever the various leagues endeavour to do,” Foster said. “We appreciated the contributions of BFFL executive Bianca Lee and journalist Fred Sturrup, who at
one point was actually contracted by the LOC for this event. Ms Lee was on point with the issues that would have concerned the flag leagues. The rogue BAFF, run by a foreigner, exhorted 12 years of frustration and showed great respect to foreign entities and no respect to the sovereignty of this country and its people first.” Members of the BAFF and the LOC were not immediately available for comment. The news comes off the heels of a joint statement released by the BFFL, GBFFL and AFFL as the groups announced their intention to boycott in September. The league insists they were purposefully omitted from the
organisation of the event, “setting the stage for a national embarrassment” if the event was hosted as intended this September in Grand Bahama. “This is setting the stage for a national embarrassment as without the league’s involvement, the national team will not be made up of the best the country can offer, and the end result will be a disgrace to The Bahamas in which we could and should have been the stars and earn well-deserved acclaim. We will stand together with all our brothers and sisters in the sport and across the Bahamas in a boycott of such a mess. We
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