Bermuda Healthcare Services has announced middle-distance runner Dage Minors as the winner of its annual Elite Athlete Award.

Mahesh Reddy, the medical director, presented Minors with a cheque for $5,000 this week.

Minors has had a phenomenal year on the track and will compete for Bermuda at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, from July 28 to August 8.

He placed third at the USATF Bermuda Games in April, and in May he raced to victory in the 800 metres during the Battle Road Track Club Meet in Massachusetts. Also in May, Minors competed in the Battle Road Track Club’s Twilight Series at Bentley University in Massachusetts, crossing the line third in the 800 metres.

The elite athlete is a six-times NCAA All-American and indoor 1000 metres national record-holder. He has represented Bermuda at CAC Games, NACAC Championships, and the Pan American Games.

Minors, who will compete in the 1,500 metres at the Commonwealth Games, is very appreciative of the award from Bermuda Healthcare Services. “I’m very, very grateful for it,” he said. “It makes you remember why you do certain things when you get rewarded like that.

“It certainly takes the stress off the next couple of months..”

Minors will travel to the US next week for a week before heading to England to join the rest of the Commonwealth Games team. He is planning to get in one or two warm-up races in England before his race in the first round of the 1,500 metres on August 4.

Ewart Brown, the BHCS executive chairman, said: “We at Bermuda Healthcare Services are delighted to present our Elite Athlete Award to Dage Minors. We have followed him over the years and believe his best results are yet to come.”

Minors has a BSc in Sport and Recreation Management and an MBA in Leadership from Franklin Pierce University.

The most decorated athlete in the programme's history, the 26-year-old was an assistant coach in the Franklin Pierce cross-country and athletics programmes until 2020. He is now a para-educator at Sandys Secondary Middle School.

Brown concluded: “In these days of self-destruction by young Black men, it is refreshing to see a young man like Dage Minors working to strengthen his mind and body.”