Babb not happy with process

Barbados’ head coach Alwyn Babb believes something went off track with the disqualification of Kyle Gale at the 47th Flow CARIFTA Games in The Bahamas last weekend.

Babb acknowledged that while Jamaica protested within the allocated 30-minute time limit after the race, he wasn’t entirely happy with how the procedure was carried out.

The 16-year-old Gale crossed the finish line first in the Under-17 Boys’ 400 metres with a time of 47.07 seconds and would’ve broken legendary Jamaican Usain Bolt’s 2002 record of 47.33 seconds but was penalised for a lane infringement, which related to stepping on the line. 

“There is much that happened behind the scenes with respect to the disqualification of Kyle Gale. I can tell you we investigated it. We asked for the protest form and were shown it,” Babb said at the conclusion of the Games on Monday night.

He confirmed the protest was made by Jamaica.

“It was well within the time after the results became official and they protested, and the video was reviewed and he [Gale] was disqualified,” Babb acknowledged.

“We went through all the channels. I spoke to the chief track judge and demanded that we see the time that was recorded on the protest by Jamaica, and based on the results that were posted, they were right to protest because they saw an infringement on the video, but there were other things that happened behind the scenes, that I cannot divulge,” he said.

Babb also explained why Gale was presented with the gold medal even though a protest was pending.

“The communication between the official result [personnel] and the medal presenting team [showed] they were not corresponding. The information was not passed to them. They did apologise and they said the medal ceremony was held too quickly and they were not informed of the protest that was lodged by Jamaica.”

The coach said it wasn’t until the following day that the Barbados management was officially notified of the disqualification. 

“The video was sent to me the same night after the race and I saw what had happened. I came to the [Thomas A. Robinson] Stadium the next morning and heard rumours of it before the official paper was given to me about the infringement about running on the line,” he said. (EZS)