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Last Updated: Apr 14, 2017 - 5:26:16 PM |
NASSAU, The Bahamas - CEO of the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2017, RosamundeCarey, cannot wait for the first start gun of this year’s edition that is now a part of The IAAF World Athletics Series.
So far 42 countries have submitted entries at the preliminary deadline and that is great news for the CEO who pointed out that at the last edition of the relays 43 countries lined up.
“We know that we do have some countries that have relating to have not entered, like Ukraine, like Puerto Rico,” she said. “So we know that we’re going to surpass the last edition. So we are really excited about that.”
Our deadline is April 10 when all final entries have to be submitted.
The CEO, who is also president of the local athletics federation (Bahamas Association of Athletics Associations), says this type of event does not happen overnight.
“We have put in a lot of effort our Local Organizing Committee has been working really hard from February,” she said. “Right now we have over 900 athletes and officials entered. This is interesting because we have one less relay but we have more athletes competing from the last edition.
“The preparation for the event is on target to be the best ever. The IAAF has performed a site visit and inspection recently. They were really pleased at what we've done so far. We are on target to deliver a world class event again.”
As Carey said, the IAAF Event Presentation team recently visited The Bahamas for a site inspection. The team hopes to introduce more technology and increase the visual presentation at the Relays. As is now a custom, IAAF World Relays spectators can expect the sounds and colours of Junkanoo.
The IAAF is always looking for innovations to add excitement to events worldwide and The World Relays are no exception. This year’s edition of the relays will include the introduction of the mixed-gender relays—two men and two women competition on the same team. The CEO said it is a fun event and it is going to be exciting and will bring hype.
Carey adds that 12 countries will be competing in the mixed relays and she believes that will be some of the races not to miss especially as it has been tested around the world including most recently in Australia.
The relay run order will be decided by countries so there will be males and females running head to head in some instances.
With just days left to go before the Relays, commitments from top athletes are coming in including our local stars, Shaunae Miller and Steven Gardiner, who just over the weekend raced to a new National Record of 44.2 seconds in Grenada. Team Bahamas begins camp this week as its athletes arrive on home soil.
Media accreditation closed last week and the numbers of local and international press signed up to cover this event are impressive – some returning and some new.
Bingo and the rest of the LOC can’t wait for the first gun of the relays just like CEO Carey.
Event T-shirts will soon go on sale at various locations including the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.
The prices are as follows:
T-shirts - $15.00
Polo shirts - $25.00
Hats - $15.00
Tickets are on-sale at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, Monday to Saturday 8am until 8pm, Galleria Cinemas, Mall at Marathon Monday to Saturday 12pm until 10pm or 24 hours online at iaafworldrelaysbahamas.org
ABOUT: The IAAF World Relays is a biennial event concentrating solely on relays including non-standard events such as the 4x200m and 4x800m. The event coincides with the odd year schedule of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics and serves as a qualifier for that event as well. The United States has dominated the event winning 16 gold medals over the first two competitions. The event has only been staged at The Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas.
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