RUNNING a tough heats that included reigning men’s 400m Olympic champion Kirani James, Guyana’s Winston George clocked 45.77 seconds to finish fifth in heat six of the men’s 400m on Friday night, where his performance was followed by Guyana’s Brenessa Thompson seventh-place finish in the women’s 100m heats, at the 2016 Summer Olympics.Guyana was represented in the women’s 400m yesterday by overseas-based Aaliyah Abrams, who clocked 52.79 seconds, to finish fifth in her heats,but unable to make it through to the next round. Abrams’ heat was won by Jamaica’s Christine Day in a time of 51.54 seconds. Aaliyah had entered the competition after qualifying with a 52.06 seconds.
Meanwhile, many Guyanese were glued to their televisions on Friday night as George and Thompson began Guyana’s performance in athletics;hoping,against all odds,that they would have at least made it into the semi-final round at the prestigious event being viewed by millions all across the globe.
But alas,it was not to be for either of the Guyanese, with neither of them moving on to the next round.
Even before the men’s 400m national record holder got out of the starting blocks, it was evident that George was going to have a tough time in the race, where only the top three finishers were moving on to the next round.
Due to this technicality,two of the athletes to qualify for the semi-finals actually qualified with timings that were higher than George’s. Jamaica’s Javon Francis,who was in heat three,qualified with a time of 45.88 seconds, while Botswana’s Isaac Makwala got in with a time of 45.91 seconds, when he also ran in heat three.
Entering the heats with a season’s best of 45.76 seconds, George was ranked last in his heat, where he competed against six other quarter-milers. Three of the athletes, including James, already had sb that were sub-45 seconds, whereas George’s personal best, which is also our current national record, stands at 45.25 seconds.
The heat was won by Grenada’s James in a time of 44.93 seconds, which was also the fastest time overall of all the heats.Second place went to Jamaica’s Rusheen McDonald, qualifying in a season’s best time of 45.22 seconds, and third went to Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith,in a time of 45.26 seconds.
Over an hour later, as Guyanese were getting over the disappointment of George not making it through, Thompson was on the track for the second round of heats in the women’s 100m, where Jamaica’s Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce remains favoured for the win.

Another national record holder, Thompson was in heat two of 8 heats. Running out of lane 8, Thompson got off to a slow start and finished in 11.72 seconds, in another tight race which was won by Netherlands Dafne Schippers. Schippers won the heat in 11.16 seconds.
The rules for this event was that the First two finishers in each heat and the next 8 persons with the fastest timings will advance to the semifinals;Thompson unfortunately did not make the cut.
However,this is not the end of the road for the Texas A & M athlete,who is still set to take part in the women’s 200m tomorrow.
Also expected to perform tomorrow is Guyana’s Troy Doris who will be in the men’s triple jump. Expectations are riding high for Doris’ performance, with Doris currently ranked seventh in the world in the men’s triple jump.