PM Minnis congratulates sprinter Steven Gardiner on winning gold at Tokyo Olympics for Bahamas

Bahamas: Bahamian track and field sprinter Steven Gardiner has bagged a gold medal in 400m by earning the first medal of the Bahamas in the Tokyo Olympics.

The Bahamas field sprinter is the current world champion and crossed the line in 43.85 seconds.

While Anthony Zambrano of Colombia won a silver medal, and 2012 champion Kirani James of Grenada won bronze, completing his full set of Olympic 400m medals.

The Prime Minister of the Bahamas – Hubert Minnis, has praised Steven’s hard work and congratulated him for winning gold for the nation.

PM Minnis stated, “The country is elated after Steven Gardiner’s gold medal win at the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Steven held off a world-class field to bring the gold medal home for The Bahamas. This is our first medal at this year’s Olympic Games.”

“Having won a bar of gold at the World Championships and then at the Olympics, Steven has demonstrated that he is without question the best in the world at the 400m. The Bahamas is proud of Steven Gardiner. He gave Bahamians across our island chain a moment of joy today during this difficult time due to the pandemic.”

“On behalf of the Bahamas government, I congratulate Steven, his family and coaches for this historic win,” the Prime Minister added.

While Steven on his win cited, “When the gun went off, I stumbled a bit coming out, but I recovered, I kept it moving, and with 200 metres to go, I started to push a little bit. And 100 metres to go, I gave it all I’ve got.”

The Bahamian track sprinter also owns the Bahamian records in the – 300 m & 200 m, with times of – 31.83 s and 19.75 s, respectively.

In the year of 2019, he also won the 400 m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, finishing ahead of American – Fred Kerley in a national record of 43.48 s, which made him the 6th fastest man in history after the race.