IslandMix

Germaine Mason (born January 20, 1983 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican-born athlete competing in high jump. In 2006 he switched sporting allegiance, and now represents Great Britain.

He won silver and bronze medals at the World Junior Championships in 2000 and 2002 respectively, the latter event held in his hometown of Kingston. His first medal at senior level came at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, when he won a gold medal, having achieved a personal best jump of 2.34 metres. He finished fifth at the World Championships the same year.

The following seasons saw him drop to 2.25 m (2004) and 2.27 m (2005), but 2.25 metres was enough to win a bronze medal at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships. The medal was won jointly with Jaroslav Bába and Ştefan Vasilache.



Mason is eligible to represent Great Britain because his father David was born in London. Mason's mother persuaded him to switch allegiance, and Mason's change in nationality was ratified by athletics' governing body, the IAAF, in 2006.

Mason won a silver medal for Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics on 19th August 2008. He equalled his personal best of 2.34m, beaten only by Russia's Andrey Silnov with 2.36m.

He is coached in Texas by Sue Humphrey, who also coached Charles Austin to an Olympic Gold Medal in the 1996 Games.

His second cousin is fellow British athlete, Simeon Williamson.

Medal record

Olympic Games
Silver 2008 Beijing High jump

Competitor for Jamaica

World Indoor Championships
Bronze 2004 Budapest High jump

Pan American Games
Gold 2003 Santo Domingo High jump


Olympics: Mixed-up Jamaican Mason fires Britain's track medal charge

Michael Phillips in the Bird's Nest The Guardian, Wednesday August 20 2008 Article history

Germaine Mason equalled his personal best of 2.34 metres to win silver in the high jump. Photograph: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images

By rights, Jamaica should have been claiming yet another medallist last night after Germaine Mason won silver in the high jump. But the red, white and blue flag draped around his shoulders told another story. In fact, it told a story so confusing that the first British track and field athlete to make the podium at these Games did not quite know the truth himself.

Mason, 25, equalled his personal best of 2.34 metres to become the first athlete representing Britain to win a silver medal in this event for 100 years. As he wandered off the track, he was given a huge hug by the sprinter who shared his last championship glory with him. "We are friends, we have been friends from way back in 2002," said Usain Bolt, the Jamaican who won the 100m in such impressive style on Saturday. "I am very happy for him. To me, it does not really matter who he competes for."

Mason's father David is English, but he lives in Jamaica - where the high jumper was born - while his mother Carol is Jamaican but lives in west London. He has dual nationality and after first leaving Jamaica in 2005 when he fell out with his coach, Stephen Francis, he now spends six months of the year back on the island with the same man and a group that includes the former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell.

"I spend six months of the year in Jamaica, training with Stephen Francis, and I come back to Europe to do the European circuit," he said. Twelve months ago his form was so disappointing because of injury that he was taken off the UK Athletics world-class lottery funding. It was one of the driving forces he needed to produce the best performance of his career here last night. "It made a big difference," said Mason. "That [no funding] is one of the things that motivated me to come out here and do my best. Track and field is not a sport that pays a lot. It was very tough. But I am here, a silver medallist."

In the space of 30 seconds Mason said his home is both Britain - "I feel very British. Britain is my home and that is where it is going to be forever" - and Jamaica. And by the attention he was receiving, it was something of a shared success. "When Germaine left, there was a public outcry," said a leading member of the Jamaican media.

Steve Smith was the last Briton to win an Olympic high jump medal when he took bronze at the Atlanta Games in 1996, but not since Con Leahy, in London in 1908, has the team won silver. Prospects were good from the start last night, though, as Britain began with three competitors in the final. Tom Parsons and Martyn Bernard, the Commonwealth silver medallist, were both eliminated at 2.25m, whereupon Mason cleared 2.34m to take the lead. In the end he could not match Russia's Andrey Silnov, who won with 2.36m, but his performance - half an hour before Christine Ohuruogu's triumph in the 400m - lifted a track and field squad that had reaped no reward until then.

"I am very happy, I am overwhelmed," said Mason. "I am super-duper right now. My hopes going into the Olympics were very good. I have been jumping consistently in my last few meets and this is the Olympics. Anything can happen and there is no medal for any specific person.

"I just wanted to go out there and do the best I could. I did that, I equalled my personal best and I won a silver medal."

That personal best had been achieved in 2003 at the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic - few in the British team have that competition in their CV.

A year before that he was in the Jamaican team at the world junior championships in Kingston, where Bolt burst on to the international scene when he became the youngest winner of the 200m. Mason jumped to bronze on that occasion and he recalled:

"Usain and I competed at a lot of Games together when I was competing for Jamaica. We are good friends. He gave me a pat on the back [tonight] and he told me well done."

Natasha De'Anka 'Tasha' Danvers (born September 19, 1977) is a British Olympic bronze medalist, who finished in third place in the 400m Hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Between 2003 and 2007, she was styled as Tasha Danvers-Smith, before reverting to the name Tasha Danvers in the 2008 season.She was born in London to two athletes, Dorrett and Donald, who both moved to United Kingdom from Jamaica as children.


Athletics Career

In 1999, she represented Great Britain at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics with a time of 56.66 in the heats. This failed to see her qualify through the rounds, however it gave her vital experience, which she took on to the following year at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. At the age of 23, Danvers made the final of her first Olympic games, finishing in 8th place, after going out too hard[1]. The following year, she won the 400 m hurdles at the 2001 Summer Universiade.



In 2002, she attended her first Commonwealth Games, in Manchester. She finished 7th in the final, behind the winner Jana Pittman of Australia. An athlete she would meet in the future Melaine Walker of Jamaica finished in 4th place. That same year, she also finished 7th in the 2002 European Athletics Championships.

In 2003, she married her Coach, Darrell Smith, the nephew of sprint coach John Smith. From that season, she was styled as Natasha Danvers-Smith.



Danvers-Smith missed her second successive Olympics, as she had taken time out for child-birth. This was criticized by many, as they said she would never make a return. She returned in 2006 to take a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games, behind Pittman, as well as a seventh place in the final of the [[2006 European Athletics Championships|European Championships. At the end of this year, she reached a career high of 6th in the IAAF rankings.

While competing for the University of Southern California (USC), Natasha won several PAC-10 conference titles and competed in several events including the high jump and the 100 m hurdles. Natasha won the NCAA title in 2000 her second year as captain of the USC Lady Trojans. After the Sydney Olympics, she returned to Los Angeles to finish her degree in Music Business and joined the famed training group HSI. In February 2007, Tasha was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame.

Returning to the world scene in 2007, Tasha made her first World Championship final, in a near personal best, 54.08. She drew lane 2 in the final and took 8th, but finished the season with a strong run of races following Osaka, finishing the season ranked number 10 by Track and Field News. She remained the British number one for the 2nd consecutive year.



In 2008, reverting to the name Danvers, Tasha's athletics season started badly. She had achilles problems, and tore her calf muscle on her first training session back from the achilles injury. At that years British championships she recorded a disappointing time of 57.00, finishing in 2nd place far below her personal best. The race was won by the young athlete Perri Shakes Drayton. WHen the Olympic team was announced the following week, many critizied the selection of Danvers, as Shakes Drayton was an improving athlete, and Danvers, in many people's opinions, had reached her peak. However, Danvers attended the Olympics, winning her heat, and finishing 2nd in her semi-final, being the 4th fastest qualifier for the 400 m hurdles final. Danvers was in lane 7, one inside of ones of the favourites Tiffany Ross Williams. On entering the final straight, Danvers found herself in 3rd place. A part of the race that had been disastrous for her in the past, seemed to be in her favour, as she stormed down the straight closing down on the two athletes ahead of her. She won a bronze medal in the final, with a personal best of 53.84s, behind Melaine Walker of Jamaica and Sheena Tosta of the United States.



Medal Record

Olympic Games
Bronze 2008 Beijing 400 m hurdles

Women's athletics
Commonwealth Games
Silver 2006 Melbourne 400 m hurdles

Other

Whilst not competing, Danvers is a keen artist. She started singing from an early age, and currently paints canvases, winning awards for her paintings. [2] She is also a public speaker, coach and personal trainer, as well as becoming a prominent fitness model.

Performance at Major Games

Championship Event Heat Semifinal Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
1999 World Championships 400m Hurdles 56.22 6 Did not advance
2000 Olympics 400m Hurdles 55.68 54.95 55.00 8
2000 Olympics 4x400m Relay 3:25.28 1* 3:25.67 6
2001 World Championships 400m Hurdles 56.36 4 Did not advance
2001 World Championships 4x400m Relay 3:25.25 2* 3:26.94 5
2003 World Championships 400m Hurdles 56.02 4 55.48 7 Did not advance
2003 World Championships 4x400m Relay 3:26.44 2* 3:26.67 6
2007 World Championships 400m Hurdles 55.67 3 54.08 2 54.94 8
2008 Olympics 400 m hurdles 55.19 1 54.31 2 53.84

Danvers only competed in the final, and did not run a leg in the heat.


Personal Bests

Best Marks
300 m, 37.80 (2000)
400 m, 52.89 (2008)
100 m hurdles, 12.96 (2003)
400 m hurdles, 53.84 (2008)
High jump, 1.82 m 1998)

Sanya Richards Official Page

Andretti Bain (born 1 December 1985) is a Bahamian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. He was born in Nassau.

Bain finished fifth in 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2004 World Indoor Championships, together with teammates Chris Brown, Timothy Munnings and Dennis Darling. He also was the NCAA Indoor champion at 400m in 2008. Setting an indoor personal best of 46.02 in the preliminary round.

Bain repeated his feat in 2008, winning the NCAA outdoor 400m championship in 44.62 over USC's Lionel Larry.

Was part of the Bahamas' silver-medal winning team in the men's 4x400m relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Michael Mathieu

24/06/1984

Personal Best - Outdoor

Performance Wind Place Date
100 Metres 10.58 Nassau 02/02/2002
200 Metres 20.80 0.10 Rio de Janeiro 25/07/2007
400 Metres 45.17 Beijing (National Stadium) 18/08/2008

Personal Best - Indoor

Performance Wind Place Date
200 Metres 21.20 New Haven, CT 03/02/2007
400 Metres 46.55 Fayetteville, AR 16/02/2008

Progression - Outdoor
Season Performance Wind Place Date
100 Metres 2002 10.58 Nassau 02/02/2002
200 Metres 2007 20.80 0.10 Rio de Janeiro 25/07/2007
2006 20.83 1.90 Austin, TX 26/05/2006
400 Metres 2008 45.17 Beijing (National Stadium) 18/08/2008
2007 45.22 Osaka 23/08/2007
2006 45.90 Cartagena de Indias 25/07/2006
2005 46.06 Norman, OK 28/05/2005
2004 45.96 Levellan, TX 08/05/2004
2001 49.08 Bahamas 26/05/2001

Progression - Indoor
Season Performance Wind Place Date
200 Metres 2008 21.33 Fayetteville, AR 25/01/2008
2007 21.20 New Haven, CT 03/02/2007
400 Metres 2008 46.55 Fayetteville, AR 16/02/2008
2005 47.18 Lincoln, NE 26/02/2005

Honours
Rank Performance Wind Place Date
400 Metres
The XXIX Olympic Games 6 sf 45.56 Beijing (National Stadium) 19/08/2008
12th IAAF World Indoor Championships 3 h 47.34 Valencia, ESP


Andrae Williams

(Old Texas Tech Profile)
2006 INDOOR: All-American on the 4x400M and all-conference in the 200M ... in the 200M, ran a 21.34 at the Big 12 Championships placing fourth and setting a new personal-record ... clocked a season high time of 47.28 in the 400M at the Wes Kittley 6Way ... ran on the 4x400M seven times during the season and clocked two NCAA provisional team times of 3:07.29 at the ISU Last Chance and 3:07.62 at the Tyson Invite.

2005 OUTDOOR: Earned All-America honors as a member of the seventh-place 4x400M relay team at the NCAA Championships ... helped 4x400M relay team establish a school record of 3:01.69 in the preliminary round of the NCAA Championships ... two-time all-region in the 400M and 4x400M relay ... finished fourth at the Midwest Regional in the 400M with a personal-best time of 46.06 ... member of the 4x400M relay that finished second with a time of 3:03.91 at the Midwest Regional ... collected two all-conference awards in the 200M and 400M ... finished sixth and fourth in the 200M and 400M, respectively, at the Big 12 Championships ... helped the sprint medley relay claim Tech's fourth-straight victory in the event at Texas Relays in a school-record 3:13.04 ... established a personal best of 20.96 in the 200M at the Wes Kittley Open.

2005 INDOOR: All-American and two-time all-conference ... in the 400M, had three provisional; qualifying marks throughout the season ... set a career-best with a time of 46.89 at the Wes Kittley 6-Way ... Big 12 conference runner-up with a time of 47.18, good for all-conference honors ... as a member of the 4x400M, ran second or fourth leg on teams that clocked four provisional and one automatic qualifying time ... ran the anchor leg on the team that clocked a 3:04.75, a new school record, at the ISU Last Chance meet ... earned all-conference honors running the second leg of the Big 12 runner-up team that registered a time of 3:07.42 ... earned his first All-American honors as a Red Raider with a time of 3:05.81 and a sixth-place finish.

SOUTHWEST CHRISTIAN: Earned All-American status in the indoor 400M and the outdoor 4x100M and 4x400M relays ... 2004 JUCO Indoor National champion in the 400M.

HIGH SCHOOL: 2001 graduate of St. George's in Freeport, Bahamas ... named Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year.

PERSONAL: Born 6-24-83 in the Bahamas ... one of six children ... majoring in economics.

2006 INDOOR: All-American and two-time all-confernce ... participated in three events and recorded personal-bests in two ... ran a 47.69 in the 400M at the UNM Invite and a 1:09.31 in the 600Y at the Wes Kittley Open ... placed fourth in the 600Y at the Big 12 Championships with a finals time of 1:09.99 ... was a member of the 4x400 relay team six times during the season, clocking NCAA provisional team times twice, and a season-best of 3:07.29 at the ISU Last Chance ... anchored the 4x400M that finished sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

2005 OUTDOOR: Two-time all-American in the 400M and 4x400M relay ... finished third in the 400M with a school-record time of 44.90 at the NCAA Championships ... member of the seventh-place 4x400M relay team at the NCAA Championships ... helped 4x400M relay team establish a school record of 3:01.69 in the preliminary round of the NCAA Championships ... all-region in the same events ... was second in the 400M at the Midwest Regional in a time of 45.29 ... helped the 4x400M relay team to a second-place finish in a time of 3:03.91 at the regional meet ... claimed three all-conference honors in the 200M, 400M and 4x400M relay ... was fourth in the 200M at the Big 12 Championships in a time of 21.04 ... ran a personal-best 20.66 in the preliminary round ... finished second in the 400M at the conference championships in a time of 45.90 ... member of the second-place 4x400M relay that ran a time of 3:04.23 at the Big 12 Championships ... helped the sprint medley relay claim Tech's fourth-straight victory in the event at Texas Relays in a school-record 3:13.06 ... at Penn Relays, helped sprint medley relay to a first-place finish in a time of 3:15.08 ... totaled 12 regional qualifying times in the 200M, 400M and 4x400M relay during the season.

2005 INDOOR: All-American, Big 12 Champion and two-time all-conference ... made one appearance on the season in the 400M, clocking a 47.99 at the Tyson Invite ... crowned Big 12 Champion in the 600Y with a time of 1:10.22, the sixth-best time in the record book ... ran a 1:10.71 in the prelims at the conference meet ... as a member of the 4x400M, ran with teams that clocked four provisional and one automatic qualifying time.

AMATEUR EXPERIENCE: Represented the Bahamas in the 2003 Pan American Games, participating in the 4x400M relay ... member of the Bahamas World Championship team ... competed at the 2004 Olympiad in Athens, representing the Bahamas, ran the third leg of the 4x400M relay team that qualified for the finals and finished sixth overall with a 3:01.8 ... member of Team Bahamas at the 2005 World Championships ... clocked a 44.9 in the open 400M ... ran the third leg of the 4x400M and clocked a 2:59.73 in the first round and a 2:57.32 in the finals ... relay team finished with a silver medal behind the American team.

SOUTH PLAINS COLLEGE: Won two national titles ... in 2003, he ran the anchor leg of the champion 4x800M relay team ... during the 2004 NJCAA Championships, won a national title in the 400M in 46.07, former SPC and current Tech teammate Chris Adams placed second in 46.12 ... ran a Page Ranking of 20.87 in the 200M and a 45.79 in the 400M ... two-time team MVP and two-year captain during the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

HIGH SCHOOL: 2001 graduate of Jack Hayward high school ... member Cariffta and Junior CAC teams during the 2001 and 2002 seasons ... team MVP during the 2002 capaign ... particpated in the World Junior Event in Jamaica as a member of the 4x400M.

PERSONAL: Born 7-12-83 in Freeport, Grand Bahama to parents Icelyn Williams and the late Edmond Williams ... has four sisters: Lateka Stubs, Adriana Oliver, Cindy Williams and Paulette Williams and one brother: Everett Williams ... majoring in exercise and sport sciences

Chris Brown

(born August 15, 1978) is a Bahamian athlete who mainly competes in the 400 metres. In addition to winning medals in individual contests, he has been a successful relay runner with four World Championships medals.

In 2007 Brown had his most successful year with gold medals in both the individual 400m and the 4x400m relay at the 2007 Pan American Games. This was followed by equaling the Bahamian national record when finishing fourth in the 400m final at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. In addition, Brown (together with Avard Moncur, Andrae Williams and Michael Mathieu) won silver in the 4 x 400m relay at the 2007 World Championships.[1]

Medal record

World Championships
Silver 2001 Edmonton 4x400 m relay
Silver 2005 Helsinki 4x400 m relay
Silver 2007 Osaka 4x400 m relay
Bronze 2003 Paris 4x400 m relay

World Indoor Championships
Bronze 2006 Moskva 400 m
Bronze 2008 Valencia 400 m

Pan American Games
Gold 2007 Rio de Janerio 400m
Gold 2007 Rio de Janeiro 4x400m relay