Gardiner, Miller-Uibo receive heroes welcome

Gardiner, Miller-Uibo receive heroes welcome

NASSAU, BAHAMAS- International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) gold and silver medalists Steven Gardiner and Shaunae Miller-Uibo received a “heroes” welcome on Sunday night by members of the Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC) and Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) officials.

Gardiner and Miller-Uibo were greeted by hundreds of supporters at a special ceremony at the Fusion Superplex, where they took photos, signed autographs and briefly spoke about their success at the recently held IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Gardiner set a new national record and personal best on his way to gold medal in the men’s 400 meters (m), crossing the line in 43.48 seconds, while Miller-Uibo clocked a North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) record in 48.37 seconds. Miller-Uibo’s husband Michael, who won a silver medal for Estonia at the IAAF World Championships, was also honored at the ceremony.

“Thanks to everyone for supporting us. Every time we go out there, we want to put on a good show and represent our country to the best of our abilities,” Gardiner said. “We are from a small country. However, we love to show them that even though we are small we are a mighty nation. It feels great to go out and represent and even better getting the chance to come back home. It was just a feeling of relief after dealing with the injury earlier in the season and having to come back. I just give thanks to God.”

Miller-Uibo added: “We know that the country was dealing with a tough time with the devastation from the hurricane. So, we just wanted to put our country on our backs and just make everyone proud during that time.

About Randy Smith

Randy Smith is the producer of the widely-watched local television show “Beyond The Headlines” and the web content manager of Eyewitness News. He joined Eyewitness News as a sportscaster in 2018, a role he still performs, and has previously covered a slew of international sporting events, including the 2015 Pan American Games, the Nike EYBL Showcase, several IAAF World Relays, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the Commonwealth Youth Games, the Bahamas Bowl and multiple CARIFTA Swimming and Track & Field Championships. Randy has been recognized by the Bahamas Press Club with awards for “Best Sports Broadcast” as a sportscaster and “Best TV Talk Show” as a producer.