Guyana’s top sprinters, Kadecia Baird and Adam Harris were yesterday unable to advance to next round of their sprint events as the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championship officially opened at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow Russia.
Baird, Guyana’s 400m star was eliminated in the heat one of the Women’s 400m while Harris, Guyana’s national sprint record holder, failed to live up to expectations in round one of the Men’s 100m heat.
Both Baird and Shaun Dietz, Coach of the athlete said they were expecting a good performance at the Games (Baird’s first World Championship) but the 18-year-old struggled around the lap and finished seventh in 53.73 seconds in the Women’s 400m following an entry time of 51.32 seconds.
Russia’s Antonia Krivoshapka (51.27 seconds), USA’s Ashley Spencer (51.48 seconds) and St. Vincent’s Kineke Alexander (51.62 seconds) finished the top three positions.
The other two qualifiers in Baird’s heat are Nigeria’s Omolara Omotoso and Agne Šerkšniené of Lithuania who clocked 51.98 seconds and 52.28 seconds (personal best).
In round one of the Men’s 100m, Harris recorded 10.30 seconds, a slower time than his entry time of 10.16 seconds to secure a fourth place finish. Jamaican Kemar Bailey-Cole clocked 10.02 seconds with France’s Christophe Lemaitre and Zimbabwe’s Gabriel Mvuvure recording 10.12 seconds and 10.28 seconds respectively to qualify.
The performances from Baird and Harris on the first day of the nine-day championship wrapped up their showing at the games.
Olympian Winston George is set to compete on Friday in the Men’s 200m. George in a brief interview with Stabroek Sport said it is good to competing in a shorter race at a World Championship.
“Good, it is a shorter race and faster and that is what I like,” he said in his only comment about race.
Last year, George qualified for the London Olympics in the Men’s 400m where he failed to advance to the Men’s semi-finals.
George who was adjudged the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) ‘Male Athlete of the Year’ was sent by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on a four-months training stint in the United States where he qualifier for the Championship. The stint is expected to finish this month-end.
