Guyanese athletes win laurels at Pan Am Games 2023

Georgetown, Guyana: Jasmine Abrams and Emanuel Archibald created history as they became the first Guyanese athletes in the women’s and men’s 100m category, to win medals at the Pan American Games.

The match was held in Santiago at the Julio Martinez National Stadium Coliseum, Chile. 

Jasmine Abrams

Abrams led the lead in the women’s 100 m finals, presenting her expertise as the country’s national 100m record holder. 

She missed the gold by a slight margin as she finished second in 11.52 seconds, which was almost close to Cuba’s Yunisleidy Garica’s 11.36 seconds.

Abrams managed to edge Michelle-Lee Ahye out of the top spot, beating the Guyanese 2018 Commonwealth gold medallist, as the Trinidadian sprinter finished her heat with an 11.53-second timing.

Emanuel Archibald

In the meanwhile, the men’s 100m was full of excitement and suspense that demanded a photo-identification to determine the podium placements.

Archibald was racing in lane one with Brazil’s Felipe Bardi in lane five. During the race, both wretched across the line in 10.031 seconds. He was drawn just 0.01 seconds behind the Dominican Republic’s Jose Gonzalez.

Notably, Archibald’s timing was infinitesimal and taken out by Bardi. The adjusted time stood at 10.31s (.310) for the Guyanese runner, which was a small distance behind the Brazilian’s timing at 10.31s (.302).

As per his statement, he was aiming for the gold in the 2023 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, but unfortunately, he was resisted with his bronze-medal performance in Chile.

Archibald further admitted that the two false starts might have affected his performance; however, he managed to work on it, and it resulted in its win. 

President Irfaan Ali applauded and extended his congratulations on behalf of all of Guyana to both the athletes through his official Facebook handle. 

He also extended best wishes to Leslain Baird- Javelin thrower and member of the Guyana Defence Force, as he prepares for this forthcoming event. 

Burnett was second in the women’s 800m final at the 14th edition of games in the Dominican Republic, with Pompey concluding as third in the women’s 400m. 

Excitement continues as Abrams and Archibald are set to compete again in the 200m event.