Excelling at international meets and adding the national record to her resume is now high on the agenda for two-time Olympian, Aliyah Abrams following her early season success. After recording a blistering 50.77s, a new personal record (PR) in the 400m on Saturday at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic, Abrams is poised to go faster as the season progresses.
“I am very proud of myself for accomplishing this personal best this early in the season,” the 26 year-old told this publication yesterday.
Abrams added “We have been hitting it hard every day so it was natural that my body just responded accordingly considering the fact that I have been working tirelessly in practice. It is just the constant preparation which has allowed me to have that performance and lower my PR. This is just my second race outdoor for the season and I am finally happy that I made a breakthrough since my last PR was in 2019.”
At the Invitational which was staged in Gainesville, Florida, Abrams placed second to Jamaica’s Stacey-Ann Williams who clocked 50.12s. Brittany Brown from the USA finished third in 51.15s.
Said Abrams, “I am in a new training programme, so it was expected and we have been working very hard towards lowering my previous personal record, so I am really happy with how this weekend turned out.” The Brooklyn-born, Abrams, who became the first Guyanese athlete to clinch a berth at this year’s World Championship in Hungary, has Aliann Pompey’s national record of 50.71s set in 2009 on her radar.
“As far as my goals for this season, yes the national record is on my radar and along some goals centered on some championships that are upcoming. Also I am really paying close attention of how I am running each race but just faster every time. My main goal is execution and hitting those little milestones in the race so it all comes together when it is really important.”
Abrams added, “All in all I am very happy with my performance this weekend, a PR. It has been a long time coming, I have not been able to dip under my PR since 2019 so just having this training programme is working for me, it is paying off.
My training is geared towards strength so as long as I keep improving in that area, I do believe I will be able to keep running faster” Abrams concluded.
