Carl Oliver Jr. (born 30 January 1969) is a Bahamian former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

sprinter who specialised in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. He is the current secretary of the

Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations The Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the Bahamas. Current president is Rosamunde Carey. She was elected on 28 November 2015 for the period 2015-2018. She becomes the fir ...

. His greatest achievements on the track came with the Bahamian

4×400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

team. He was a bronze medallist in the relay at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and was also a finalist at the

1996 Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

. He helped set a national record of 3:02.85 minutes at the

1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nat ...

. After 2000 he was mainly the country's back-up runner for the heats. He qualified the Bahamas for the finals at the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...

where they became world champions and assisted the team to the finals at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

and the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

, where his compatriots took bronze in his absence. He was a one-time Bahamian champion in the 400 m and had a personal best of 45.69 seconds.

Career

Sprinting

Born in

Andros, Bahamas Andros Island is an archipelago within the Bahamas, the largest of the Bahamian Islands. Politically considered a single island, Andros in total has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consis ...

,Carl Oliver
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2013-11-29. he had his first success in 1995 when he won the 400 m national title at the Bahamian Championships. That same year he made his first major appearance on the world stage, running in the

at the

. Although the team including

Troy McIntosh Troy McIntosh (born March 29, 1973) is a male sprinter from The Bahamas. He represented his nation at the Summer Olympics in 1996 and 2000. He had his greatest achievements with the Bahamian 4×400 metres relay team. He won the bronze medal in ...

Dennis Darling Dennis Darling (born 6 May 1975 in Nassau, Bahamas) is a Bahamian athlete who specializes in the 400 metres. He is currently track and field Assistant Coach at Texas Christian University. Darling competed in 400 metres at the 199 ...

and

Timothy Munnings Timothy Alexander "Tim" Munnings (born 22 June 1966 in Nassau) is a Bahamian athlete who mainly competes in the 400 metres. At the 2000 Summer Olympics he ran in the heats for the Bahamian team who eventually won the bronze medal. His perso ...

did not make the final, their time of 3:02.85 minutes in the heats was a Bahamian national record. The following year he ran his lifetime best of 45.69 seconds for the individual event in the altitude of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

.Carl Oliver
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2013-11-29. This earned him selection for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, where he ran in the 400 metres heats and placed seventh in the 4×400 metres relay final. His next international appearances came three years later. He finished fifth in the 400 m at the 1999 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics and won gold with the relay team. At the

, he formed a team with McIntosh, Munnings and the emerging

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

and reached the final. They finished seventh but were retrospectively upgraded to sixth upon the disqualification of the American team due to

Antonio Pettigrew Antonio Pettigrew (November 3, 1967 – August 10, 2010) was an American sprinter who specialized in the 400 meters. Early life and career Pettigrew was born in Macon, Georgia. While attending St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Ca ...

admission of doping. That same disqualification eventually resulted in Oliver winning his first Olympic medal: at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

the Bahamas team of

Avard Moncur Avard Moncur (born November 2, 1978) is a Bahamian track and field athlete competing in the 400 metres. He was born in Nassau. Career Under the guidance of coach Henry Rolle, Moncur's most successful year came in 2001 when he won the gold med ...

, McIntosh and Brown were the original fourth placers in the 4×400 metres relay final but the American team was retrospectively disqualified in 2008 and Oliver and the team gained a bronze medal as a result.Athletics at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games: Men's 4 × 400 metres Relay
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2013-11-29. Oliver was one of the relay runners in the heats of the

, where he helped Bahamas to the final in which they took the gold medal in a national record of 2:58.19 minutes. He performed a similar role at the

and Bahamas won the bronze in his absence in the final. The team were disqualified in the heats of the

2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK from 14 to 16 March 2003. It was the first time the Championships had been held in the UK. There were a total number of 589 participat ...

, but they topped the podium at the 2003 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, as Moncur, Oliver, Nathaniel McKinney and Brown took the gold medals. At the major event, he was again relegated to a heat runner and he took the Bahamas to the top of their heat and the nation won bronze in the final of the

. These were the last international performances of his career.

Administrator

He wound down his career after 2003, running a best of 47.03 seconds in 2004 and 47.81 in 2006 before retiring from the sport. Following the end of his active career, he moved into

sports administration The Sports Administration (SA; ) is a branch of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China (Taiwan). History The Sport Administration was initially established in 1932 as the Sports Council (體育委員會). On 12 January 1998, the Sp ...

. He was elected as secretary general of the

(BAAA) in 2012. His appointment came at a time of much political in-fighting at the organisation, between the president Mike Sands and other members of the board. Oliver found himself excluded from the

2013 CARIFTA Games The 2013 CARIFTA Games took place between March 30-April 1, 2013. The event was held at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. A report of the event was given for the IAAF. The games mark the seventh time in which the event was hel ...

organising committee, alongside fellow BAAA executives Iram Lewis and Harrison Petty. The decision to host the

2014 IAAF World Relays The 2014 IAAF World Relays were held in May 2014 in Nassau, Bahamas. The event was the first edition of the IAAF World Relays. There were five events for each gender. In men's and women's 4 x 100 metres and 4 x 400 metres, the event served as a qu ...

event was also made without their input. Oliver agreed to a

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

at a BAAA general meeting in response.Sturrup, Fred (2013-11-12)
Oliver: Motion of vote of no-confidence will not stand
''

The Nassau Guardian ''The Nassau Guardian'' is a newspaper in The Bahamas, based in Nassau. Its first issue was published November 23, 1844. It is the largest newspaper in the Bahamas. The paper is one of the oldest continually published newspapers in the world and ...

''. Retrieved on 2013-11-29.

Personal bests

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

– 21.30 seconds (2000) *

– 45.69 seconds (1996)

Notes

* Bahamas were elevated to the bronze medal from fourth place after the disqualification of the American team due to doping by

and

Jerome Young Jerome Young (born August 14, 1976) is an American former track and field sprinter who specialized in the 400-meter dash. He won gold medals with the United States 4 × 400-meter relay team at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and 1997 ...

* Medals achieved in the final – Oliver served as a runner in the heats only.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Carl Living people 1969 births Bahamian male sprinters People from Andros, Bahamas Olympic athletes for the Bahamas Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Bahamas Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for the Bahamas Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for the Bahamas Athletics (track and field) administrators Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games