Guyanese athlete Aliyah Abrams has made history by breaking Aliann Pompey’s 14-year-old national record and setting a new national record in the women’s 400m event at the NACAC New Life Invitational in The Bahamas.

She finished in first place with a time of 50.20s, ahead of Charokee Young, Roxana Gomez, and Stacey-Ann Williams. Sada Williams, the 2023 Commonwealth Games gold medallist and World Championship bronze medallist, finished fifth.

This achievement comes just a month after Abrams became the first Guyanese athlete to qualify for the 2023 World Championships in Track and Field. In order to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, she will need to replicate or better her performance during the Olympic Qualification window from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. The qualifying time for the women’s 400m is 50.95s.

Abrams was the only Guyanese athlete to run the qualifying standard time for the Tokyo Olympic Games.