Monday, July 13, 2009

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Bahamas fails to medal at World Youth By Sheldon Longley ~ Guardian Sport Editor ~ Slongley@nasguard.com: It was a magnificent medal moment for The Bahamas at the 5th International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Youth Championships two years ago, but unfortunately there wouldn't be any hardware this year, as the 12-member team came up empty handed. The team settled for five total points and one fourth place, which was good enough for a five-way tie for 58th, among the 180 competing countries at the biennial event which wrapped up yesterday in the Italian city of Bressanone. The female medley relay team of V'Alonee Robinson, Katarina Smith, Rashan Brown and Katrina Seymour, ended the meet for The Bahamas with a fourth place finish in a time of 2:09.33, barely being edged for the silver and bronze medals by Hungary and Romania respectively. The United States won the penultimate race of the championships in a world-leading time of 2:04.32, and dominated the five-day meet with 167 total points - six gold, five silver and five bronze. Kenya was second in the points standings with 108 points - six gold, seven silver and one bronze, and Germany rounded out the top three with 95 total points - two gold, one silver and six bronze. Jamaica was the top Caribbean country with 30 total points - one silver and one bronze - as it finished in a three-way tie for 10th place. As for that female medley relay, Hungary finished a distant second behind the Americans in a time of 2:09.22, but just three one hundredths of a second ahead of third place finisher Romania, which crossed the finish line in 2:09.25. The Bahamian girls were close on their heels in 2:09.33. Jamaica finished fifth in 2:09.79, and Poland, Canada and Japan rounded out the field. A total of 46 countries captured medals this year, but The Bahamas would not be one of them, although it came extremely close in the female medley relay. The championships, which wrapped up yesterday in the Südtirol region of Italy, were regarded as one of the best and most competitive ever. The 7th annual event is set for 2011 in Lille, France. Monday, July 13, 2007