—Team Guyana finishes with four medals
Ezekiel Newton had a performance of a lifetime yesterday in Bogota, Colombia.
The 18 year-old sprint sensation stormed to victory in the men’s 200m final at the South American Athletics U-20 Championships, running sub 21 seconds for the first time in his career.
Newton, who snatched a bronze medal in the blue riband 100m event, climbed to the top of the podium step in the half lap race after stopping the clock at a personal best time of 20.96s.
He led from straight out the blocks and crossed the line ahead of Colombia’s Enoch Romero (21.04s) and Tomas Mondino (21.18s) of Argentina. Guyana’s Jaheel Cornette (21.43s) finished just off the podium in fourth.
Meanwhile, Tianna Springer followed up her 400m gold medal run with a third place finish in the 200m yesterday.
Springer, 16, added another international medal to her resume after clocking a personal best 23.72s. The event was won by Colombia’s Melany Bolano in 23.43s. Brazil’s Suellen De Silva snared the silver in 23.44s.
Thanks to the heroics of Newton and Springer, Guyana’s seven-member contingent finished with four medals (two gold, two bronze) at this year’s event. The local outfit is scheduled to return home today. Their participation at the biennial fixture was made possible by the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Sport.
