Bahamas must not let the Sports Scandals of America take over our system – BP Sunday Special Part 2
Nassau, Bahamas — It is no coincidence that some of the Bahamas’ elite athletes failed to show at the country’s Olympic Trials at the Sports Centre last weekend – and again this week at the makeup meet – to show fitness. Some are sick with torn tissues.
In fact, we believe some must know when to go and leave the track when their body is speaking to them.
But for some reason, we at Bahamas Press do not believe this is the case with all. Some failed to show period! In an Olympic year! Incredible!
This is scandalous indeed!
You see, in the case of some of them, not even their coach could find them, much less the BAAAs and this is not good.
How is it that world track stars, persons who receive subventions from their government, cannot be found in an Olympic year? What are y’all doing?
Bahamas Press therefore is going deep today and repeating our call for an OUT OF SEASON DOPING TEST to be done on every athlete traveling to London this summer.
We renew our call for Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Perry GLADSTONE Christie, a former outstanding athlete himself, to step in and save the Bahamas a potentially international embarrassment on the world stage.
Many sports enthusiast are too young to remember that major sports investigation that erupted out of the United States of American back in 1988 that almost destroyed the American sports prowess.
The company under investigation produced drugs with mineral supplements to achieve optimum results in an athlete. By the time the investigation was complete, a dark, very dark, cloud hung over the heads of American elites and one Marion Jones was stripped of her medals.
We have the transcripts of all the investigation in hand.
We all know the story. Years later, after that investigation was finally completed, Bahamian sprinter Pauline Davis Thompson collected her gold medal.
But there is an interesting twist to this story that has not ended and has still not ended for us here in the Bahamas.
You see, coaches were connected to that investigation, and for America to show the world that it was “clean”, it was prepared to update its doping policies and put in place methods of testing athletes to prove not only their fitness, but to show they were drug-free.
Before the games following the investigations, Americans performed thorough tests on its team headed to compete in the Olympics and discovered the red light on one of its stars. He was stripped from the team and denied access to world competition.
This was important, because America was avoiding another Marion Jones embarrassment on the world stage. Which brings us back to the Bahamas and these elite athletes.
We know something about that scandalous investigation – in fact we know plenty – that is yet to hit the eyes and ears of the Bahamian public.
Right now – TODAY – there is a member on our team who is presently being coached by a man who was named in that scandalous American sports investigation. And it is this fact that further raises our LOUD SHOUT to the public and sports executives managing this whole game of athleticism in the country!
You cannot sweep things under the rug! If they cannot show fitness and for some reason are sick, then it is the duty of sports execs to drop them from the team!
Then there are some we simply cannot be found for competition – can you imagine that? A world track stars vanishes from the face of the earth days before the biggest sports competition on the world stage! Athletes who didn’t compete in any event for two years and when it is time to qualify they appear out of no where to head to London? And then when you look for them two days later, they vanish again from the earth again?
Then there are some athletes who say they cannot compete, cannot show fitness, cannot be found anywhere for events, but yet are trying all he or she can to get on the team though the back door?
Boy, yall could tolerate some [yinner know what we want say]!
Bahamas Press is saying it again. London is watching! The world is reading! BP is tracking the story…And the people are deciding!
