Bernard Nottage

Nottage was born in Nassau, Bahamas, on 23 October 1945.^[8] He attended the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, studying medicine.^[9] Whilst at Aberdeen, he won athletics titles in the 100 yards and 200 yards in three consecutive years in the late 1960s.^[4] He also competed internationally for Scotland during the same time.^[4]

At the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Nottage finished in sixth place in the men's 200 metres.^[10] The following year, at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Nottage competed in three events.^[4] He competed in the men's 100 metres,^[11] the men's 200 metres,^[12] and the men's 4 × 100 metres relay,^[13] but did not advance from the heats in any of the events.^[3] In the relay event, the team set a new national record that lasted for 25 years.^[14]

In 1976, Nottage became the President of the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association, and became the President of the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation six year later.^[3] In 1988, he was elected to a vice-presidential regional role of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).^[4]

Nottage returned to the Bahamas and had a career in obstetrics and gynecology.^[3] In 1986, he went on to become the medical director at St. Luke's Medical Center in Nassau.^[3]

In 1987, Nottage became an MP with the Progressive Liberal Party.^[4] His political career continued, and he served as the Minister of Health, the Minister of Education (1990–1992),^[8] the Minister of Consumer Affairs (1989–1990),^[8] and the Minister of National Security.^[15] He was appointed Leader of the Opposition from 1993 to 1997.^[8] He was appointed as Minister of National Security from 2012 to 2017.^[16] In 2000, he resigned from the Progressive Liberal Party to become the leader of the Coalition for Democratic Reform party.^[3]

He died in June 2017 in Florida, at the age of 71,^[4][17] with his body lying in state at the House of Assembly.^[18]

¹Did not start in the semifinals