… Archibald wins 100m Prelims

JASMINE Abrams, the fastest Guyanese over the distance of 100 metres, will take to the track in Oregon, USA this evening, in the women’s ‘blue ribbon’ event of the World Athletics Championships.
Guyana is being represented by the Abrams siblings, Jasmine and Aliyah, along with Emanuel Archibald at the July 15-24 event.

The women’s 100m in Eugene is said to be the most anticipated event, with some of the fastest women in the track and field, all hoping to lay claim to the moniker of ‘World Champion’.
Jasmine, last year’s senior South American Championship bronze medallist, will line up alongside former Commonwealth Champion Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago in Heat six.

Alia Hobbs of the USA and Sweden’s Ajla Del Ponte will also feature in the race.
Only Hobbs (10.81s), Ahye (10.82s) and Del Ponte (10.90s) ran faster than Jasmine (11.07s) over the distance in their career.

The Guyana National record-holder in the women’s 100m, Jasmine, will be hoping to replicate or better her time which she clocked in June when she competed at the Trinidad and Tobago National Championships.

Meanwhile, Archibald handed Guyana the perfect start at ‘Worlds’ yesterday, when he flashed across the line in a time of 10.31s to win his preliminary round race ahead of refugee athlete Dorian Keletela and Honduras’ Melique Garcia.

The win meant that Archibald booked a place last evening in the men’s 100m Heats, where he faced the likes of American Fred Kerley.
Kerley, a Tokyo 100m silver medallist, just last month ran 9.76s, which was the sixth-fastest time in the history of the men’s 100m.

Archibald holds a personal-best (PB) time of 10.18s in the 100m and is the country’s fastest athlete over the distance. He won silver at the South American Championships, clocking 10.23s in Ecuador.
Archibald, who hails from Linden, represented Guyana at the Tokyo Olympics in the 100m, where he made it out of the preliminary stage of the competition. He’s also the country’s National record-holder in the Men’s long jump (8.12m).

Looking ahead, Aliyah Abrams will be in action tomorrow from 15:00hrs in the women’s 400m.
Abrams has a ‘PB’ of 51.13s. At the Indoor World Championships, Aliyah reached the finals of the women’s 400m where she finished in 5th place.