By SHELDON LONGLEY Guardian Sports Editor

Copyright thenassauguardian

TOKYO, Japan — For just the seventh time in the history of the World Athletics Championships, The Bahamas finished with no medals, but compated valiantly against the giants of the world.

Almost 200 nations competed in the global meet, and The Bahamas finished in a seven-way tie for 61st on the placing chart with four points, with three athletes making the top eight of their respective disciplines. Devynne Charlton was sixth in the women’s 100 meters (m) hurdles, Kendrick Thompson ended the meet with an eighth place finish in the men’s decathlon among 24 competitors, and Anthonique Strachan made the final in the women’s 200m for a second time in a row, but was disqualified for a false start.

About 2,200 athletes from around the world competed in the nine-day meet which wrapped up on Sunday night inside the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

The United States won the meet with 308 points — 16 gold, five silver and five bronze. Kenya finished a distant second with 118 points — seven gold, two silver and two bronze. Jamaica rounded out the top three nations with 98 points — one gold, six silver and three bronze.

Team Bahamas was represented by a 15-member squad — five sprinters, three hurdlers, two quarter-milers, two jumpers, two throwers, and one multi events athlete. They finished in a seven-way tie for 61st with four points.

Team Bahamas’ Head Coach Tito Moss said the country should be inspired by the collective performance.

“When I look at the performances, I am very pleased. In the 100s, men and women, we advanced to the semifinals, and in the situation of Terrence Jones, he managed to have a season’s best.

“In the men and women’s javelin, Rhema Otabor threw over 60 meters and Keyshawn Strachan threw over 80 meters — both respectable performances. They were just shy of advancing to the finals.

“Kaiwan Culmer was off from his season’s best in the triple jump, but he did a yeoman’s job.

“In the women’s 100 meters hurdles, we had three competitors. Devynne had a season’s best in the semis, and then topped that time in the final, and finished sixth overall, and also, Charisma was just shy of advancing to the semis, getting beat out by a thousandth of a second.

“In the men’s high jump, the ageless wonder Donald Thomas was just shy of advancing to the final, and what more could be said of Kendrick Thompson. He finished eighth in the world in the decathlon and shows tremendous promise for the future.

“When you look at the performances by the 200 meters runners, Anthonique and Ian, they were strong. Anthonique recorded a season’s best and made it all the way to the final. Unfortunately, she had a false start in the final.

“Our two 400 meters runners were strong. Printassia Johnson had a new personal best and Javonya gave it her best effort,” said Moss.

The older Charlton sister led the way, making a fifth conseutive global final outdoors. She was sixth in the Olympics in 2021 and again in 2024, seventh at the world championships in 2022, and fourth at the world championships in 2023.

Now, she has another sixth place finish.

Devynne Charlton ran 12.69 seconds in the heats and 12.51 seconds in the semifinals of the women’s 100m hurdles. In the final, she ran 12.49 seconds to finish sixth.

Kendrick Thompson turned in a strong effort of 8,175 points for eighth in the men’s decathlon — the highest finish ever for The Bahamas in the multi events at a global meet outdoors.

Anthonique Strachan made a final in the women’s 200m for a second straight time at the world outdoor championships. She had a season’s best time of 22.57 seconds in the heats and improved that time to 22.48 seconds in the semis. She false started in the final.

A couple of 100m runners made it through to the semifinals. On the women’s side, the younger Charlton sister, Anthaya, ran 11.18 seconds in the heats and 11.14 seconds in the semifinals. On the men’s side, Terrence Jones ran 10.16 seconds in the heats and 10.10 seconds in the semifinals.

Camille Rutherford also represented The Bahamas in the short sprints. She ran 11.40 seconds in the heats, and did not advance.

Rhema Otabor finished 15th in the world in the women’s javelin, throwing 60.06m (197’). Keyshawn Strachan finished 22nd on the men’s side, throwing 80.03m (262’ 7”).

Printassia Johnson was sensational in the women’s 400m, running a personal best time of 50.53 seconds to advance out of the heats into the semifinals. In the semis, she ran 50.81 seconds. The other female quarter-miler, Javonya Valcourt, wasn’t as fortunate. She ran 52 seconds flat, and did not advance.

The Bahamas’ male 200m runner, Ian Kerr, didn’t get out of the first round heats. He ran 20.92 seconds.

Charisma Taylor was a thousandth of a second off from advancing to the semifinals of the women’s 100m hurdles. She ran 12.96 seconds in the heats. The other Bahamian in the women’s 100m hurdles, Denisha Cartwright, ran 13.50 seconds in the heats and did not advance.

In the jumps, Donald Thomas finished tied for 19th in the men’s high jump with a clearance of 2.21m (7’ 3”), and Kaiwan Culmer was 23rd overall in the men’s triple jump with a distance of 16.39m (53’ 9-1/4”).

“All-in-all, there were some tremendous performances throughout the championships,” said Moss. “Team Bahamas fought and clawed in each and every event, representing us as best as possible. This team had a number of persons who were first-timers at this level and others at just their second or third global meets. They are still maturing at being senior athletes.

“The future looks bright for Team Bahamas. I’m real excited about the performances and for what’s to come in the future. Hopefully, at the next world championships, we could get back to having relay teams qualified and having more athletes here.”

Team Bahamas began returning to their respective bases on Monday. The next world outdoor championships are set for September 11-19, 2027, at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, China.