Defending women’s 400m champion and Games record holder Sada Williams is set to defend her Commonwealth Games title in Glasgow Scotland this summer.
Following her 400m win in the Velocity Fest in Jamaica last weekend, the Olympian and two-time world championship bronze medalist indicated that she was planning to compete in the July 23 to August 2 meet in Scotland.
“To repeat that (winning the Commonwealth title) and give my country another gold medal, that would be really great,” Williams said at the time.
Speaking during a tour of the Barbados Olympic Association headquarters on Wednesday by the executive of Commonwealth Sport, BOA President and Commonwealth Sport Vice-president Sandra Osbourne revealed that while Williams is set to defend the title she won in Birmingham in 2022, the full squad is yet to be submitted.
“It is our understanding that Sada is going to be there to defend her gold medal, but it’s kind of too early to say what our team will look like because the entry by name deadline is near the end of June, so we don’t know exactly what the team will look like.
“We have a long list but we are really not in a position at this point to say who will actually compete. The other thing that you may wish to note is that the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games are kind of overlapping with the Commonwealth Games this year. That has created a level of complexity, whereby we have to manage two sets of teams, who goes where, and it’s not been easy,” Osbourne explained.
However, Osbourne said Barbados will not be disadvantaged by the scheduling hiccup.
“The point is that it’s something that could not be avoided because the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow were awarded quite late, so finding a spot in the calendar was a bit of a challenge.
“We have enough resources that we have been able to have a dedicated chef and deputy chef for Commonwealth Games as well as for CAC and we will split our teams and cover both to the best of our ability. I am confident that there will be no difference in terms of our participation and readiness for either of those games,” Osbourne maintained.
Minister of Youth, Sport and Community Empowerment, Charles Griffith, was also on hand during the tour.
He said he was looking forward to a strong showing from Barbados in Scotland.
“I know that Sada Williams, she flew the flag in terms of getting us that coveted medal [in 2022] and based on the performances that we saw coming out of Grenada and then there are some other athletes who are plying their trade in different disciplines, I suspect that we will have a very good showing in Glasgow. I look forward to that because it can only bring more joy and pleasure to the country,” Griffith said.
