I'M OFFICIALLY.........IN LIMBO!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I took my flight back to Orlando today and unfortunately the news is not good. It is also not bad. To be honest, my fate is unknown. I did NOT win my Olympic Trials. The collegiate girl that I had mentioned in my prior post ended up setting a personal best and winning the long jump. To say that I am extremely disappointed and disheartened at the moment would be a HUGE understatement. I did not compete well. I am physically prepared and so I have no excuses. My technique fell apart and that proved to be my undoing. I finished 2nd by 5ins. and although the Olympics does allow for three representatives from each country, there are a lot of qualification requirements and standards that are far too detailed to get into right now.

Suffice to say, as of right now, I am tentatively on The Bahamas Olympic team and the girl that won is not, reason being I have the Olympic B qualifying standard and she does not. She has one further opportunity to make the standard and should she do so, then I would then be forced to make the A standard which is 9cm further than my current qualifying mark. Slightly confusing yes, but these are the facts as best as I can explain them. The deadline for qualification for the Olympic Games for the Bahamas team is July 8 and so we are both under the gun. I needed to have won. I should have won and I did not.

I barely slept two hours last night and now my pity party is over. I have work to do. I also have one further opportunity to take my destiny in my own hands and I intend to rectify what went wrong yesterday. The test of a true athlete is not that you fail, but moreso, how you respond to that defeat. I am not a quitter. Never have been, don't plan on starting now. First, let me say thanks to all of you who read my blog and have lent me your support and good wishes, in spite of the fact that I am not an American.

I am however, going to disallow any comments for this post or any others that I may write until my fate is known next weekend. I do hope you understand but I cannot allow myself to wallow in empathy or sympathy right now because it comforts the pain, it eases the reality, it dulls the harshness of it all and I need to deal with the stark truth. My back is against the wall and I am nothing if not a fighter. I have been here before. I qualified for the 2000 Olympics in my last chance meet, on my last jump and ended up going to the Olympics and finishing 7th in Sydney out of a stellar field of 40 plus of the world's best jumpers so I know how to get the job done.

It's funny, as I was standing in line at the airport today, the lady right in front of me was wearing a t-shirt and on the back it said, "Don't Quit! Fight the Good Fight of Faith." I Timothy 6, vs. 12. Call it karma, call it fate but there's a reason she stood before me. I can choose to lay down quietly or I can choose to fight for my life and I choose to fight.

All I ask for right now are your prayers and I in turn will do my best to ensure that I make that trip to Beijing. Thank you all for your understanding. Your Bahamian long jump friend.....

HOME SWEET HOME!!

Just a quick check-in to let you all know that I made it home safely yesterday. The one hour flight from Orlando to Nassau was barely enough time for me to flip through my magazine and doze off before it was time to land.

Usually when I come home I am overwhelmed at just how humid it is here, but I guess because I've been in similar weather for the past few months, it basically felt the same.

I went straight from the airport to the track and did a warmup and I felt really good. I did find out that this year I will have more competition than I normally do because apparently there's a collegiate girl who has been jumping pretty well and so I really have to have my act together tomorrow. I expect to do very well and anything short of that will simply be unacceptable!

Our Trials start today with the 100m heats and finals, men's LJ, heats of the men's 400m,etc. I'm probably not going to go out there tonight just to be innundated with questions and answers about how I've been and what I've been doing. Everyone means well, but with a big day ahead of me tomorrow, I need to keep my focus and if that means sitting quietly tonight and watching TV or whatever, then so be it. I'm sure I'll catch up with everyone tomorrow.

Anyway, so that's it for now. The next time you hear from me, I will hopefully have some good news to report!

TRAINING/OLYMPIC TRIALS UPDATE

Prompted by 12Kyle, I figured I'd give a brief update on how my preparations are coming along. Time has flown by and believe it or not, my Olympic Trials are this upcoming weekend in Nassau, Bahamas. The women's long jump will take place at 5pm on Saturday afternoon. This year has been a lesson in diligence and dedication and with less than a week to go, I am finally feeling confident about what I know I can do.

Year in and year out, whenever I go home, something about the atmosphere and the expectations and the excitement of it all, always brings out the best in me. The home crowd is always very supportive, the location of the long jump pit in our National stadium is right near the stands and so the energy that I can draw from the crowd is great!

For such a small country (only around 300,000 people), The Bahamas is a powerful little track nation. To continuously produce medalists at every major championships in everything from the gold in the women's 4X100m relay in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney to the silver in the men's 100m at the World Championships in Osaka last year to the gold in the men's high jump last year also, I am proud to represent such a great country.

I will be leaving on Thursday morning and although I have already met the Olympic qualifying mark necessary to compete in Beijing, it is still imperative that I go home and win and do well. Please include me in your prayers and wish me health, strength, focus and God's speed.

Just as an added extra, I thought I would post a few pictures from training recently that were given to me by Andre Brown. Thanks 'Dre, I really appreciate it. This is what I really look like on an average day at work......

ONE MORE QUOTE........

I heard this one today and I thought it really described me, both in relationships and with friends and family....

"....love is a very powerful force in my life. It's my fatal flaw and my biggest virtue." Nicole Kidman


Hmmm.....good or bad?

The Company You Keep

"It's Better To Be Alone Than In the Wrong Company"

Tell me who your best friends are,
and I will tell you who you are

If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl.

But, if you associate with eagles
you will learn how to soar to great heights.

A mirror reflects a man's face,
but what he is really like is shown by the kinds of friends he chooses.

The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom
you closely associate - for the good and the bad.

The less you associate with some people,
the more your life will improve.

Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others,
it increases your mediocrity.

An important attribute in successful people is
their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people.

As you grow, your associates will change.

Some of your friends will not want you to go on.

They will want you to stay where they are.

Friends that don't help you climb will help you to crawl.

Your friends will choke your vision or stretch your dreams.

Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.

Consider this:
Never receive counsel from unproductive people.

Never discuss your problems with someone incapable
of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves
are always first to tell you how.

Not everyone has a right to speak into your life.

You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when
you exchange ideas with the wrong person.

Don't follow anyone who's not going anywhere.

With some people you spend an evening:
With others you invest it.

Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions
along the road of life.

Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships.

Happy moments? Praise God.

Difficult moments? Seek God.

Quiet moments? Worship God.

Painful moments? Trust God.

Every moment? Thank God.

GO LAKERS!!!

In spite of what can only be described as one of the worst meltdowns in NBA playoffs history, I'm still cheering for The Lakers. I've been a Laker fan for over 15 years. From the days growing up in The Bahamas when we only had one TV channel and on that channel we had no choice but to watch Laker games because that's what they showed!!

The reason for that was because Mychal Thompson, a Bahamian, played for the Lakers back then and then years later, another Bahamian, Rick Fox also played for them and so pretty much every Bahamian you meet will inherently be a Laker fan. Plus who didn't love Magic and Kareem and Worthy?


Suffice to say, the game tonight wore me out. First I was overly excited because the lead was so large. I mean who could ever expect that a 24 point lead is not going to be enough. We have Kobe, Vujacic, Odom, Fisher. Isn't 24 enough??? So then once the lead started to dwindle, I think I wore myself out running up and down this apartment. I basically did a 2nd workout. So now I'm tired and drained and really need to go to sleep. I need to rest up 'cause now we have a whole lot of work to do come Sunday. It's going to be an uphill battle but I'm keeping the faith!!

I know a lot of people don't like them but I'm sorry I'm a Laker for life. GO LAKERS!!!

How You Feeling?........Hot! Hot! Hot!

The past couple of weeks here in Orlando have been RIDICULOUSLY hot!! I mean we have been sweating our behinds off out at the track in spite of the fact that practice has been moved to 5pm. As a result, on a day like today, we didn't leave the weightroom headed home until after 9pm!! I mean it's great for training in regards to the fact that we can warmup really well and our muscles are loose. The downside is how many tan lines I now have - around my ankles where my socks are, jog bra, half tights, wristwatch - everywhere. I almost look like a painting, lol!! I swear I've turned 10 shades of black since I've been here. Gotta love it, though. I feel like I'm back home in The Bahamas.

I started thinking about the top 10 things I like to do when it's REALLY hot and here they are:

10) It's probably the only time I don't mind walking in the rain.

9) Getting in the car and pumping up the AC to high!

8) You know what, ice baths are actually a pleasure on a hot day.

7) I haven't done it in a while but going to a water theme park.

6) Cold shower

5) Drinking an icee or slurpee

4) Laying in my bed with the AC on, and flipping the pillow over to the cool side.

3) To be honest, just get me outta that heat! Give me an indoor activity....going to the mall, movies, bookstore...

2) Competing at track meet. We're all warm and ready! Let the best woman win!

1) Going to the beach in Nassau at around 6 or 7pm or so, when the sun is not as high, but the water is still 80 or 90 degrees!