By Neto Baptiste
Looking back at her performance in Heat 8 of the 100 meters event at the Paris Olympics, national sprinter Joella Lloyd believes that she could have ‘executed a bit better’. The 22-year-old athlete clocked 11.37 seconds in the race held on Friday at the Stade de France, finishing seventh and 42nd overall.
Speaking with Observer media from Paris, Lloyd said she received valuable feedback from her coaches following the race.
“I do think I could have executed that race a bit better, and a lot of the feedback I have gotten from my coaches over the years is that I get out of the blocks and start running for 90 meters, so if I can improve on that, then I think I will be in a better spot for future races,” she said.
Lloyd posited that the Paris Olympics was much more intense than that Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, pointing to the presence of spectators in the stands as added motivation.
“There were [a lot] more people in the stands because as you know, because of Covid, nobody was allowed [in Tokyo], but for the morning session there were hundreds if not thousands of people, the energy was high and it was really amazing competing in front of such a crowd that was really enthusiastic about track. The priority now is to get rest, to get back healthy and get ready for off-season training that will start in about a month and a half,” the sprinter said.
Lloyd advanced from the opening round at the Tokyo Olympics back in 2021 with a time of 11.55 seconds, but could not get past the second preliminary heat in the 100 meters after clocking 11.54 seconds to finish seventh.
Meanwhile, men’s sprinter, Cejhae Greene, finished just outside of the top three in his opening round of the 100 meters event held Saturday morning. Competing in Heat 8, Greene clocked 10.17 seconds to finish fourth in the race, which was won by the USA’s Fred Kerley in a time of 9.97 seconds.
The athlete later took to social media to show his gratitude to fans and for the opportunity to represent Antigua and Barbuda.
“Antigua and Barbuda I love you! I see the love, I see the support, I see it all, and words can’t explain just how proud I am to do what I do and represent my people!,” he wrote.
