By Neto Baptiste
Four of the five young track and field athletes who qualified for this year’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships slated for August 27-31 in Lima, Peru, will miss the event due to no fault of their own.
According to reports reaching Observer media, officials at the Antigua and Barbuda Athletics Association (ABAA) missed an extended deadline on Tuesday this week to register the youngsters for the prestigious meet.
One source told Observer media that individuals were made aware of the issue during a meeting with parents and Athletics Association officials at the YASCO Sports Complex on Wednesday. Efforts to reach the body’s president, Everton Cornelius proved futile.
Five junior athletes, all from the Power Speed Endurance (PSE) Track Club, had hit qualifying marks in various events at the National Track & Field Championships in July.
Sprinters Ajani Daley and Geolyna Dowdye achieved the world juniors standard in both the 100 and 200 metre sprint events. Ajani clocked 10.34 seconds on day one of the National Championships to eclipse the 10.55 qualifying standard while registering a time of 20.99 seconds in the 200 meters. The world juniors qualifying standard for the men’s 200 meters is 21.35 seconds.
Dowdye, who had a stellar National Championships, hit the World Under-20 100 meters mark when she clocked 11.51 seconds at the YASCO Sports Complex. Her performance bettered the 11.78 standard set by World Athletics.
The Princess Margaret School (PMS) student returned to register 23.41 and clinch the 200 meters while claiming a place at the World Under-20 Championships. The qualifying standard is 24.35 seconds.
Also qualifying from the PSE camp was 2022 Under-17 Carifta gold medallist in the 100 meters, Dwayne Fleming. Fleming posted a time of 10.40 seconds in the 100 meters to book his ticket to Peru. The PMS alumni also qualified for the 200 meters with a time of 21.06, but would not have contested the latter as countries are only allowed two athletes per event.
The other qualifier in the men’s 200 meters is Kasiya Daley who registered a time of 20.96 at the nationals to secure his ticket to Peru. Rounding off the qualifications for the World Under-20 Championships is LaNica Locker who registered a time of 23.59 seconds. Locker had however opted out of going to the World Juniors.
