A week on and Dage Minors is still frustrated at the way his Pan Am Games ended.

Bermuda’s best middle-distance runner finished twelfth in the 1,500 metres final in Santiago, Chile, but he was unable to give his best after he suffered a hamstring injury in training after arriving in South America.

“A couple of days before the race I was doing my last session and I felt a really bad strain in the hamstring,” Minors said.

“From there on it was touch and go. We did all the treatment that we could have done and it eased and got better, but I think the race was a little too soon.

“I was already down there so it was not a case of not running but I thought the adrenaline would carry me through, but you can’t race at these Games at 60 to 70 percent and expect to perform to your best.

“When it initially happened I was so frustrated and tried not to feel sorry for myself. I had no prior injury concerns and just three days befor, bang, this happens. I wasn’t sad or angry, it was more why is this happening to me now?”

Minors was thankful for the support he received behind the scenes in Chile and is already thinking of redemption

“I need to thank the Bermuda Olympic Association,” Minors said.

“Julia Hawley also did a great job as the chef de mission and I must also thank DeVon Bean. He was really helpful and he actually was one of the reasons why I raced as he was super positive about it.

“It was a good Games for Bermuda and hopefully in four years’ time I will be back at the Pan Am Games to redeem myself and continue to get the support that I’ve got.”

Minors is already focusing on 2024 and will attempt to win the Front Street Mile for a third time in January but the race will not feature as high on his list of priorities this year.

“We got back into eays training a couple of days ago and we’ll be doing that for a little while before we build back up for the winter and then the rest of 2024,” Minors said.

“I don’t think I’m going to race as much indoors this winter, so we’ll be starting from fresh. When I joined coach [James Thie] it was a weird time as the season was ending but I still had the Pan Am Games. Now there is no rush, I will do Front Street Mile and probably race once indoors, but the winter season is not going to be a priority like it has in the past.

“I like to be there, represent and compete on island. We attacked it a lot harder last year and we’ll still be training hard, but there will be less emphasis on being race ready for Front Street Mile and the winter.”