President of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Mike Sands has come out strongly in favour of the World Athletics Relays being given a home in the region.

Sands, who visited Jamaica last weekend, spoke of how his country The Bahamas created what has become a centrepiece among the events stage by World Athletics.

“Without a template, we did the first three editions, 2014, 2015 and 2017 and we framed the way in which the World Relays should go because World Athletics didn’t have a template, we didn’t have a template, but together, our collective minds produced what we feel were the best editions of the World Relays,” he stated.

The Bahamas will be hosting the event for the fourth time in its short history in 2024, after it was moved to Asia in 2019. Sands says that preparation has already begun for the next staging.

“The Bahamas offered itself again as was successful in being awarded the event for 2024 and I can assure you that part of the organising committee is already in place. The chairman has been appointed and so again we are looking forward to it,” he noted.

A former sprinter himself, Sands, who ran the 100m and 400m for The Bahamas at the Olympic Games, spoke highly of the support that his organisation continues to receive from The Bahamas Government.

“I have to give credit to the Government of The Bahamas because it’s not an easy venture, it’s not an inexpensive venture, but I think when you look at a tourism-based economy and when you look at The Bahamas wanting to position itself as a sporting paradise, it falls right in line for the product of The Bahamas and, by extension, the development of the sport in our area, the NACAC area.”

He has promised to lobby for the World Relays to remain in the region on its return in 2024.

“I do believe that NACAC deserves an event such as the World Relays to be a staple in our area. That’s something we will have to put forward to World Athletics as well.”

Sands is hoping that having suggested during the process of getting the hosting rights for 2024, the same message can be put forward for the relays to remain in NACAC.

“We know that the World Relays [was] home to The Bahamas for its first three editions. If you talk to most Bahamians, particularly in our sport and if you look at The Bahamas’s presentation, they said bring it back home where it started.

“I don’t know if that resonated with the decision-makers, but home is exactly how we see it, that it belongs in The Bahamas and certainly if it’s not in The Bahamas, it’s our area, the NACAC area. So, I will be one without secret or hesitation to agitate for our area to be a staple of the event such as the World Relays, recognising what we, as an area, produce in terms of relays.”

The Bahamas boasts both current 400m Olympic champions as Shaunae Miller-Uibo defended her title won at the 2016 Game in Rio when the delayed 2020 Games were held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021, while her countryman Steven Gardiner won the male equivalent in Tokyo as well. Sands is banking on this success as well as the next generation of Bahamian athletes coming through to ensure that the hosts give to the world yet another spectacular show at the “home of the World Relays”.

“The hometown wants to root for its own and having the likes of Stevie and Shaunae and hopefully in the next year and a half, we have some young ones in the pipeline, Brandon Miller and the likes of them, we are comfortable that we will be making a very good representation of ourselves on home soil, particularly in view of the fact that we only have four relays. So, we ought to be able to get into our pool and bring out the best that we have to offer to the world,” he concluded.