BUDAPEST, Hungary (August 8) — World champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Olympic champion Steven Gardiner are set to lead the Bahamas’ 11-member team at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, later this month. No head coach has been assigned to the team.
“I think we have a very talented team, obviously led by Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Steven Gardinwer and also anchored by Devynne and Anthonique,” Tito Moss, who will be part of the coaching setup said.
“We also have some talented up and coming athletes like Terrence Jones and Charisma Taylor, Shakeem Smith and NCAA javelin champion Rhema Otabor and the ageless wonder in Donald Thomas.”
Miller-Uibo, 29, will make a stunning return to competition just four months after giving birth. Since returning last month, she has focused on heptathlon events, and her participation in the world track and field championships seems to be a part of her preparation for the Paris Olympics in 2024.
The two-time Olympic champion Miller-Uibo won both the World Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2022. She clinched gold in the 2016 and 2021 Olympics and has two silver medals from the world championships in 2015 and 2019.
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At the Budapest event, Miller-Uibo’s competition will include world leader Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Olympic and world silver medalist Marileidy Paulino, Britton Wilson, Irish NCAA champion Rhasidat Adeleke, Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek, and 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser.
On the men’s side, the 400m race will feature a fit-again Steven Gardiner as the favorite for the gold medal. After missing the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, last summer due to injury, the 29-year-old Olympic champion is fully healthy and looking forward to regaining the title he first won in 2019.
Gardiner will face stiff competition, including world record holder Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, Commonwealth Games champion Muzala Samukonga of Zambia, and defending world champion Michael Norman of USA.
The Bahamas’ world championships team will also feature sprint hurdler Devynne Charlton, sprinters Anthonique Strachan and Terrence Jones, and veteran high jumper Donald Thomas.
Unfortunately, though, World U20 bronze medalist and national record holder in the men’s Javelin, Keyshawn Strachan, suffered an injury earlier this season and will miss out on competing in his first World Championships. He will now turn his attention to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The team for the World Athletics Championship is as follows:
WOMEN’S TEAM
Anthonique Strachan
Devynne Charlton
Shaunae Miller-Uibo
Charisma Taylor
Rhema Otabor
MEN’S TEAM
Laquan Nairn
Shakeem Smith
Steven Gardiner
Donald Thomas
Alonzo Russell
Terrence Jones
The World Championships will run from 19-27 August and will be streamed live on Peacock TV in the United States. – Click here for complete information.
