Bass’ Olympic journey
And then there is her unforgettable Olympic adventure.
Bass made her first appearance at the Games at Rio 2016. At 21, she had broken two Gambian national records and become the first female athlete from the country to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Rio was an eye-opening experience for the young athlete, who ran only in the 200m at the Games and finished with a time of 23.43s, which was slower than the 22.92s she had ran to win bronze at the African Championships in Durban two months prior. “It was not easy because I met people who were ahead of me. They had more experience I was just coming off the junior level to senior level. What mattered most to me was that I qualified,” she explained with a smile.
Bass did not make it to the semi-finals at the Games, but even “getting to Rio is what I call experience,” she pointed out. “Because of that, I had experience to work hard and to work on myself.”
Tokyo 2020 came around in 2021 and Bass was there again, this time with the aim of reaching a step higher than she had done in Rio five years earlier. In Japan, she was ready. She ran 11.16 in the 100m and then 22.68 in the 200m, reaching the semi-finals in both events.
But despite running what felt like the races of her life, she was left a little disheatened by not making the finals. “I was disappointed because you see I was in shape by then, and I didn’t make it to the final. But it’s part of sports. Sometimes you expect to be somewhere else when it’s not yet time.
“Some people are there for so many decades but they can’t reach the final. Being there, I was my objective to be in the semis which I had made it. So if I was in the final it would have been a plus for me.”
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 is an opportunity for Bass to put her disappointments behind her and focus on reaching the final of both races. Despite winning double gold in Accra, the Olympic Games presents a much bigger test for the Gambian and she has already set her sights on the track in the French capital.
“I feel good. I closed my season last year with 11.0s. This year, I have to run in the region of 10.9; that’s the main objective. So I just have to focus and relax, work on the problems I have in my races with my coach, and just hope for the best.”
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