NASSAU, Bahamas, Sep 23, CMC – Prominent track & field administrator, Alpheus Finlayson died on Friday, a few weeks after the death of his wife, Dawn. He was 76.
Finlayson was the president of the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association from 1989 to 1997, and he was also vice-president of the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CAC) and the North American, Central American, and Caribbean Area Athletic Associations (NACAC).
He made history when he became the first Bahamian elected to the 27-member council of the IAAF (now World Athletics), the governing organisation for track & field around the world.
Under the leadership of Finlayson, Bahamas secured its first Olympic medal in track & field when triple jumper Frank Rutherford won bronze at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Spain, and first World Championship medal when quarter-miler Pauline Davis won silver in 1995 in Göthenberg, Sweden.
Finlayson was a best-selling author, and correspondent on the sport, hosting weekly radio and TV programmes, as well as writing newspaper columns in the Bahamas and globally.
He also worked as a financial services representative for a local insurance company, and he was preparing for the final farewell for his late wife that was set to take place earlier on Saturday.
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