USA based quarter milers, Arinze Chance and Aliyah Abrams brought their talents back to sunny Guyana, scorching their respective fields to claim 400m titles in the highlight of the penultimate day of the ongoing National Senior Championships.
Under the noon sunlight at the National Track and Field Centre, the only competition the duo faced was the clock as Abrams, who has already clinched an Olympic berth was looking to improve her seeding while Chance was running to punch his ticket to the Games.
Chance who, on Thursday, inked a one-year deal with Banks DIH Limited under the Powerade brand, powered across the finish line in 47.66s about 10 meters ahead of his nearest rival Michael James (49.53s) with Courtly Bobb (50.01s) completing the podium.
The heroics of the 25 year-old however was not enough to take his talents to Tokyo, Japan where the Games will be held from July 23 to August 8. The qualifying standard for his event stands at a blistering 44.90s.
Abrams, who ran a pedestrian 54.51s yesterday compared to personal best (51.13s) was a bit disappointed following the race.
The 24-year-old, who will compete at her second Olympics, stated that she has two more meets lined up ahead of Tokyo to get closer to her best.
Elsewhere in the field, Mark Jhalu registered his personal best and a new national stadium record of 2.12m in the high jump event. Natrena Hooper won the female version of the jump in 1.63m.
Earlier in the day, Cleveland Thomas and Shaquka Tyrell won their respective 1500m races. Thomas clocked 4:08.68s while Tyrell won several meters ahead in wire-to-wire fashion in (5:13.52s).
The 200m, 800m and the long jump events will highlight the championships’s finale today. Athletes are scheduled to get into the blocks from 13:00hrs.
