Shaunae Miller appears to be in fine form these days. With a personal
best and previous world leading time of 50.17 seconds, Miller won the
women's 400m event at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic on April 24. She
also has the second fastest time(22.50) in the world this year in the
200m.
This impressive start of the season for Miller is a
great sign that she's feeling healthy, and close to a full recovery from
injuries. Competing for Team Bahamas, Miller thus far is only assigned to
the 4x200m team for the upcoming IAAF World Relays. Shewill be joined
by Anthonique Strachan and Shaniqua Ferguson, who are also former IAAF
junior world champions. Strachan has the 14th fastest time of the year in
the 200m at 22.89 seconds. Others assigned to the 4x200m relay
areLanece Clarke, along with newcomers Brianne Bethel and Adanaca Brown.
At
last year's inaugural World Relays, Team Bahamas didn't fare so well,
only winning one medal (silver) in the men's 4x400m. This year's team
features a lot of junior athletes who will be facing senior international
competition for the first time. Team Bahamas will only contest three
events on both the men and women side. Those will be the 4x100m, 4x200m,
and 4x400m relays.
At this point, there are only
speculations as to whether or not Miller will also run in the
4x400mrelay. Of course, the home town crowd will want to see her on the
track in both4x200m and 4x400m events. But will it be worth the risk of
reinjuring herself by pushing too hard this early in the year?
If
she was to compete in the 4x400m, Miller will join the likes of
Christine Amertil, Lanece Clarke and Katrina Seymour. Along with
youngsters Shaquania Dorsett, Bianca Farrington and D'Nia Freeman. The
Bahamas hasn't fielded a competitive women's 4x400mrelay team in
decades. Most of the glory and attention was focused on the4x100m,
especially after the performance of the Golden Girls at the
Sidney Olympics in 2000.