Frank Rutherford is the first Bahamas to medal in the Olympics in a track and field event. He won a bronze medal in the triple jump competition in the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain.

Rutherford sat for an interview with ZNS’ Marcellus Hall giving his reflections on the nation’s 50th independence. He said, “I often have to remind myself, when it comes to nation building, that God had put you in that place to be more of their spring board, to inspire the nation, not just in athletics but that part of us that should have been part of their genius of Sir Lynden, the founding fathers telling us hey guys we gotta build this country. We gotta be the ones to do it. We gatta show and prove to ourselves and prove to everybody else that we’re as good and will be as good as anybody. And so looking back 50 years, look what has happened since what I’ve done.”

Rutherford also expressed his feelings about the achievements of other Bahamian athletes since his historic medal win. “When you think about it this population of maybe 350,000 people, you and I both know our situation when it comes to facilities, resources, to kind of like have an opportunity to even fathom the thought that every single Olympics since 1992 that that little nation, not just wins a medal, but actually wins gold medals in succession.”

The Bahamas has won sixteen Olympic medals since 1952, eight of them are gold medals.

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