KIRANI James, the 400 metres 2012 Olympic Champion and 2016 Olympic silver medallist, along with Guyana’s 2018 Commonwealth Games triple jump gold medallist, Troy Doris, will arrive tonight ahead of Saturday’s Aliann Pompey Invitational at the National Track and Field Centre.

Both athletes will be competing for the first time in Guyana and are among athletes from over 25 countries competing in the third installation of the Aliann Pompey Invitational. In fact, the bulk of those athletes will arrive tonight with Doris and James.

Pompey, in an invited commitment, said she’s overwhelmed with the support the meet, which was named in her honour and sanctioned by the IAAF, has been receiving, especially from regional athletes.

According to the 2002 Commonwealth Games 400 metres gold medallist, to have James competing in Guyana and using the ‘AP’ Invitational on his road to recovery, speaks volume about the quality of the event, and as such, track and field fans could expect nothing short of fireworks in all the events.

Pompey also noted that the triple jump has the potential to be the ‘show stopper’ taking into account the class of jumpers set to challenge Doris.

Doris, who has been representing Guyana since 2015, will face Cuban Jordan Diaz, touted by many in his country as the next World triple jump champion. Quite a technician, Diaz is the World U-18 Champion and junior World record holder at 17.32 metres.

Joining Diaz will be last year’s champion from Suriname, Miguel Van Assen who holds his country’s national record in the event, as well as the CARIFTA and South American title.

Van Assen’s personal best is 16.94 metres. The Surinamese is also the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games champion.

Also confirming his participation is The Bahamas’ Leevan Sands, who won bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games, as well as bronze at the World Championship and Commonwealth Games. He’s a Pan Am Games silver medallist and multiple gold medallist at the CARIFTA Games.

The Aliann Pompey Invitational, the only event of its kind in Guyana where athletes from across the Caribbean, Central and North America converge at Leonora, West Demerara, for what has been the best showing of track and field in Guyana.