Aliyah Abrams failed in her quest to create history at the World Athletics Championships after she was eliminated from the women’s 400 metres in hot sultry conditions at Hayward Filed last evening.
Abrams, the national record holder, finished sixth in her semifinal, clocking an underwhelming 51.79 seconds, her slowest time this season so far and will have wait to become the first Guyanese woman to reach the finals of the competition. But she shed no excuses.
“I was having a good season and this was one of those days when things didn’t go right,” she explained.
“I couldn’t put it together when it counted and it is not a reflection of my true capability,” she added.
Following a 51.55 second effort in the first round to qualify for the semi-finals, Abrams was expected to improve her performance in the biggest race of her season.
But it was an uphill battle from the beginning as she failed to keep pace with front runners Fiordiliza Cofill of the Dominican Republic and The Netherlands’ Licke Klaver, who set a brisk pace from the gun.
At the final curve the Guyanese had faded to sixth from lane six, a position she maintained to the line.
Cofil eventually outlasted Klaver to win in 50.14 seconds with the Dutchwoman taking second in 50.18 in a new national record.
Jamaica’s Stephanie McPherson finished third in 50.58 and clinched one of the fastest losers place in the final lineup which will be headed by Bahamas’ double Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who easily won Heat One
Abrams, who also set the national record this year of 51.13s said she isn’t having any injury issues nor was the weather or having to do rounds, factors in her disappointing display.
“I will have to go back to the drawing board and regroup in time for the Commonwealth Games,” she added.
“I train in South Carolina where it’s always 95 degrees (Fahrenheit) and I have been doing rounds all season. No injuries, its just running pains you always get in competition,” Abrams disclosed.
But she is confident her best days are yet to come. “It’s coming, its coming it’s all good.”
All three members of the Guyana team here for the World Championships (the others being Jasmine Abrams and Emanuel Archibald) are part of the Commonwealth Games squad.
They will wing out for Birmingham, England on Monday.
