The second Chris Brown (Bahamas) Invitational Track Meet scheduled for April 12 this year has been canceled because of ongoing preparation of the track at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium for the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) World Relays to be run May 24-25.
Brown, a quarter-miler, described the cancellation of his event as “extremely disappointing”, noting that a great amount of work had gone into planning and preparation and that all the athletes had booked the event on their calendar. “It’s just unfortunate that it had to come to this,” he lamented.
On the possibility of switching the dates of his meet, Brown said it was not feasible to change the date and time due to schedules of competitors and the calendar of events already put in place by the IAAF and the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) for local athletics clubs.
Brown has come to grips with the cancellation and is looking forward to the 2015 Invitational. He is confident he will be able to assemble a strong field of athletes again.
“With next year being a World Championships year, it [the Invitational] could jump-start their season,” Brown said. “I’m sure athletes will be hungry for good competition early in the season, especially in warm weather like that of The Bahamas.”
The first Chris Brown Invitational last year attracted stars such as Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown, Grenada’s Kirani James, USA’s Justin Gatlin, David Oliver and LaShawn Merritt, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Jehue Gordon.