All eyes were on star athlete, Emanuel Archibald yesterday and though he did not disappoint, he still did not achieve his goal of punching his ticket to the Olympic Games.
Yesterday, the 26-year old showed his consistency as he once again challenged his national long jump record (8.12m) but still landed short of clinching a berth at the prestigious Games.
In bright and sunny conditions at the National Track and Field Centre, Archibald disturbed the sand with a best jump of 8.07m, after jumping 8.10m in his season debut on Valentine’s Day.
The native of the Mining Town, will continue to jump in order to reach or surpass the entry standard of 8.22m to earn his spot in Japan before the qualifying window closes on June 21.
Elsewhere on the track, Archibald, who was racing against the clock, recovered from a poor start to win the marquee 100m in 10.24s. He ran 10.21s in his first outing of the season.
His timing was also not enough to punch his ticket to the Summer Games. Archibald has to run 10.05s to achieve the qualifying standard. His consistency so early in the season however, is quite encouraging.
“The goal is to stay consistent and to achieve the qualifying marks” said Archibald yesterday. “I am not far off” he noted.
Some other athletes who made hay in the brilliant sunshine yesterday included: Leslain Baird (Men’s Javelin), Natrena Hooper (Women’s Triple Jump), Devaughn Barrington (Men’s 400m), Cleveland Thomas (Men’s 5000m), Atoya Harvey (800m U-17), Shaquka Tyrell (800m) and Wesley Tyndall (Long Jump U-20).
Archibald along with the other athletes will get a chance to further sharpen their iron on April 17-18 when to Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG), stages its National Senior Championships.
