Guyana will have two opportunities to win medals in the 400 metres at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Oregon, USA, after Malachi Austin and Tianna Springer secured places in their respective finals last night.
Austin, Guyana’s national 400m record holder, finished second in the first men’s semifinal with a strong 45.87-second performance. American Jayden Deleon won the race in 45.49, while Bahamian Zion Davis secured the third automatic qualifying position in 45.96.
Suleiman Abdulrahman of the United Arab Emirates narrowly missed the final after placing fourth in 46.27. France’s Lucas Couderc was fifth in 46.69, followed by Jamaica’s Jabari Matheson in 47.10, Puerto Rico’s Yariel Perez in 47.29, Algeria’s Imadeddine Hamida in 47.62 and Trinidad and Tobago’s Zachery Frank in 47.91.
Austin had earlier won Heat Four of the opening round in 46.48 seconds. South Africa’s Kryn Romijn finished second in 46.93, while Botswana’s Junior Phatsima took third in 47.05 as all three gained automatic semifinal places.
Italy’s Riccardo Fumagalli was fourth in 47.59, followed by China’s Rui Huang in 48.48 and El Salvador’s Edward Alberto Medrano in 50.37. Bulgaria’s Vasil Antonov and Switzerland’s Tom Gilliard did not finish, while Nigeria’s David Dominion Udoh was disqualified.
Springer was equally impressive in the women’s event, winning both her opening-round heat and semifinal.
The Guyanese quarter-miler opened her campaign by comfortably winning Heat Four in 52.39 seconds, more than a second ahead of Slovenia’s Maša Medjimurec, who placed second in 53.72. Germany’s Eni Kuske finished third in 53.97 to claim the final automatic qualifying position.
Nigeria’s Jecinta Lawrence also recorded 53.97 and advanced as a fastest qualifier. Ecuador’s Daniela Astrid Castro placed fifth in 55.19, while Kazakhstan’s Sofya Kidenko was sixth in 56.29.
Springer returned later in the day and won the third women’s semifinal in 52.48 seconds. Slovakia’s Lenka Gymerská secured second place in 53.05, while Medjimurec qualified for the final by finishing third in 53.09.
Australia’s Shari Hurdman placed fourth in 53.44, ahead of France’s Shade Laporal in 54.05, Italy’s Laura Frattaroli in 54.41 and Antigua and Barbuda’s Kettia Ambrose in 54.82.
With Austin and Springer reaching their finals, Guyana is now in contention to win two medals at the championships.
Kadecia Baird is the only Guyanese athlete to have won a medal in the competition’s history. She claimed silver in the women’s 400m at the 2012 World Junior Championships (now called the World Athletics U20 Championships) in Barcelona, Spain.
Austin and Springer will now seek to end Guyana’s 14-year wait for another medal on the global junior stage.
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