In search of Olympic qualification in French Guiana at the Guiana Games in Cayenne yesterday, Guyana’s top sprinter, Emmanuel Archibald, and javelin thrower, Leslain Archibald, shone in their respective events but missed out on the qualifying standards for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
Archibald equalled his personal best in the 100m event, running 10.13s to finish first in Section 3 of that event, while his fellow Guyanese Akeem Steward produced a 10.70s run for fifth place. The 100-metre event was split into three sections, each with a timed final.
Archibald’s 10.13s was the fastest overall, while Noelex Holder ran 10.35s to win his Section 2 100m final. Jaheel Cornette was also part of the Section 2 event and ran 10.71s for fourth place. Leslain Baird, on the other hand, threw the javelin 76.10m, well ahead of his nearest challenger to cop Gold. While Baird’s throw in Cayenne was an improvement on his season thus far, it was still below his best of 78.65m and short of the 80m Olympic qualifying mark.
Other notable performances came from Shemar Horatio in the 200m event, as he ran 21.04s to win bronze. Aymeric Priam of French Guiana was first in 20.96s, while Loic Provost was second in 21st flat.
The 4x100m team consisting of Holder, Archibald, Stewart, and Horatio blazed to 39.61s in the relay event to cop gold while narrowly missing out on rewriting the national record, which currently stands at 39.59 seconds.
