By SHAVAUGHN MOSS

NG Sports Reporter

Two Jamaican Olympians, along with Bahamian athletic stars, will grace the Bahamas Olympic Association's 4th annual awards banquet with their presence, next Thursday, Dec 18.

Jamaica's Olympic gold medallists, Deon Hemmings and Herb McKenley will attend the gala, formal, fundraising event to be held at the Raddison Cable Beach Hotel.

Hemmings shocked the world in 1996 in Atlanta when she won the gold medal in the 400 metres in an Olympic record, and is the only Jamaican woman, ever to win an individual Olympic gold medal.

The 35-year-old, who announced her retirement from athletics last month, will conduct a one-day Hurdling clinic at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, next week Wednesday.

She was elected to the International Association of Athletics Federation Athlete's Commission, this year, at the World Outdoor Championships in Athletics, along with Bahamian sprint sensation Debbie Ferguson, and a group of other notable elite athletes from around the world.

McKenley, a living legend, in the sporting world, is the only person in history to hold five world records at the same time.

He is the only person in this century to have won Olympic medals in both the 100 and 400 metres. He's an Olympic 1,600 metres gold medallist, won two Olympic silver medals in the 400 metres and an Olympic silver medal in the 100 metres.

He is the only man in history to have won medals in all three sprint events during a single major championship meet; accomplishing this feat, three times: the 1946 and 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games as well as the 1951 Pan American Games.

McKenley is an inductee of the USA's Black Athlete Hall of Fame, and the Jamaican Hall of Fame.

Caption: Deon Hemmings

Posted: Saturday December 13,2003