Partly sunny
Training for them begins today
By SHELDON LONGLEY,NG Sports Reporter
The younger Olympic track and field hopefuls arrived in Herzogenaurach, Germany yesterday morning and had hardly any time to rest on their laurels.
Fresh off a four medal haul at the North American and Central American and Caribbean's Under-23 Track and Field Championships over the weekend in Sherbrooke, Canada, four members of the team ended their 24-hour journey to Europe yesterday morning and will immediately hit the track this morning.
Grand Bahamian Andrae Williams, former C.R. Walker standout Nathaniel McKinney and one-time C.C. Sweeting star Aaron Cleare are key components on the men's 1600 metre relay team, especially with the unavailability of injured 2001 World Champion Avard Moncur.
Joining the rest of the team at the training camp in Herzogenaurach, the three quarter milers along with female sprinter Shandria Brown will begin their workouts this morning at a track adjacent to their hotel before resting for the evening session.
"Everyone on the team is training hard everyday," said team manager Ralph McKinney from Herzogenaurach last night. "The weather has been very good, about 80 degrees each day, and we have had good workouts. It's been ideal Bahamian training."
Along with the Jamaican team, team Bahamas is staying at the Herzog Park Hotel, where they will remain until they depart for Athens, Greece on the 10th August. Their accommodations is being sponsored by the Dassler sisters (Inge and Sigi) who have shares in the sneaker giant Adidas and currently live here in New Providence. Both Adidas and Puma have origins in Herzogenaurach, where their headquarters and a couple factory plants are located.
"The whole hotel is dominated by two teams, both us and Jamaica," McKinney said. "The Bahamian flag and the Jamaican flag are hanging from the rafters in the foyer of the hotel. This town is dominated by Puma and Adidas. Everyone on the street have on either Puma or Adidas."
A bad luck breeze has hampered the progress of the men's 1600 metre relay team in recent times though. The track and field portion of the Athens Olympics are still over two weeks away but a few things are already certain.
Moncur won't be there because of an undisclosed injury and whether or not Chris Brown (currently the premier 400 metre runner in the country) will be at full strength or not is unknown.
"The X-ray that Chris had shows that his injury appears to be healing and he should be set and ready to go for the 400 metres and possibly for the 4 x 400 metres," McKinney said. "He is basically coming right back. We won't let him compete in any of the meets prior to the Olympics."
Brown suffered a hairline fracture in his right arm a couple of weeks ago and is rapidly trying to heal up before the start of the track and field portion of the games. He is working out on a daily basis with the swimmers and also doing some bike riding in an attempt to re-build his strength. Coincidentally, the Olympic swimmers (Jeremy Knowles, Nicholas Rees, Chris Vythoulkas and Nikia Deveaux) are also staying at the same hotel and a nearby 50-metre pool is only a 15-minute drive away.
Despite the injuries to Moncur and Brown, according to McKinney, the team is in high spirits and the three youngsters are expected to be a big boost. It is even being speculated that veteran Tim Munnings will join the team in Athens to replace Moncur.
Training for them begins today
By SHELDON LONGLEY,NG Sports Reporter
The younger Olympic track and field hopefuls arrived in Herzogenaurach, Germany yesterday morning and had hardly any time to rest on their laurels.
Fresh off a four medal haul at the North American and Central American and Caribbean's Under-23 Track and Field Championships over the weekend in Sherbrooke, Canada, four members of the team ended their 24-hour journey to Europe yesterday morning and will immediately hit the track this morning.
Grand Bahamian Andrae Williams, former C.R. Walker standout Nathaniel McKinney and one-time C.C. Sweeting star Aaron Cleare are key components on the men's 1600 metre relay team, especially with the unavailability of injured 2001 World Champion Avard Moncur.
Joining the rest of the team at the training camp in Herzogenaurach, the three quarter milers along with female sprinter Shandria Brown will begin their workouts this morning at a track adjacent to their hotel before resting for the evening session.
"Everyone on the team is training hard everyday," said team manager Ralph McKinney from Herzogenaurach last night. "The weather has been very good, about 80 degrees each day, and we have had good workouts. It's been ideal Bahamian training."
Along with the Jamaican team, team Bahamas is staying at the Herzog Park Hotel, where they will remain until they depart for Athens, Greece on the 10th August. Their accommodations is being sponsored by the Dassler sisters (Inge and Sigi) who have shares in the sneaker giant Adidas and currently live here in New Providence. Both Adidas and Puma have origins in Herzogenaurach, where their headquarters and a couple factory plants are located.
"The whole hotel is dominated by two teams, both us and Jamaica," McKinney said. "The Bahamian flag and the Jamaican flag are hanging from the rafters in the foyer of the hotel. This town is dominated by Puma and Adidas. Everyone on the street have on either Puma or Adidas."
A bad luck breeze has hampered the progress of the men's 1600 metre relay team in recent times though. The track and field portion of the Athens Olympics are still over two weeks away but a few things are already certain.
Moncur won't be there because of an undisclosed injury and whether or not Chris Brown (currently the premier 400 metre runner in the country) will be at full strength or not is unknown.
"The X-ray that Chris had shows that his injury appears to be healing and he should be set and ready to go for the 400 metres and possibly for the 4 x 400 metres," McKinney said. "He is basically coming right back. We won't let him compete in any of the meets prior to the Olympics."
Brown suffered a hairline fracture in his right arm a couple of weeks ago and is rapidly trying to heal up before the start of the track and field portion of the games. He is working out on a daily basis with the swimmers and also doing some bike riding in an attempt to re-build his strength. Coincidentally, the Olympic swimmers (Jeremy Knowles, Nicholas Rees, Chris Vythoulkas and Nikia Deveaux) are also staying at the same hotel and a nearby 50-metre pool is only a 15-minute drive away.
Despite the injuries to Moncur and Brown, according to McKinney, the team is in high spirits and the three youngsters are expected to be a big boost. It is even being speculated that veteran Tim Munnings will join the team in Athens to replace Moncur.
