Chief Executive Officer of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA), Mabelene Miller, says the country simply does not have the legs to compete, as the federation confirmed it will not field a team for the upcoming World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China.

Citing a lack of available athletes, Miller said the decision was not taken lightly but was ultimately unavoidable given the current challenges.

"We identified four guys, but the challenge came in finding a fifth,” Miller explained.

"No one else is available. Other guys, such as Wanya (McCoy) and Antoine (Andrews), are in college and not available to run. Also, for the mixed relay, we just didn’t have the legs to compete," he told the Nassau Guardian.

The meet, set for May 10–11 at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium, will mark just the second time The Bahamas is absent from the global relay spectacle. The country also missed the 2021 edition in Chorzów, Poland.

For the men’s 4x100m relay, only Carlos Brown Jr., Samalie Farrington, Adam Musgrove, and Ian Kerr were available, not enough to build a viable relay squad.

World Athletics released the final entry list over the weekend, confirming 734 athletes (411 men and 323 women) from 43 federations for this year’s competition. The relays return to The Bahamas in 2028, but for now, the seventh edition — and the first to be staged in China — will go on without the Caribbean nation.

This year’s event includes six relay disciplines: the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays, as well as mixed 4x100m and 4x400m events. The mixed 4x100m will be contested for the first time.

Among the headliners expected in Guangzhou are Canada’s reigning Olympic men’s 4x100m champions, Jamaica’s sprint queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and 200m specialist Shericka Jackson, Kenya’s world 800m champion Mary Moraa, and South Africa’s 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk.