(from left) Alexandre Grand'Pierre, Raekwon Noel and Jadon Wuilliez.
There were no second round fortunes for Haiti’s Alexandre Grand'pierre, Antigua and Barbuda’s Jadon Wuilliez, or Guyana’s Raekwon Noel in the pool as both failed to progress from their respective heats on the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games at the Paris La Defence Arena on Saturday.
Wuilliez and Grand'pierre, finished second and fourth in their 100m breaststroke heats after clocking 1:02.70 and 1:02.85, respectively, but did not make the semi-finals as those times placed them 26th and 28th overall.
Noel also had a credible second-place finish in his 400m freestyle heat, but his time of 4:02.29 wasn't enough to progress. He finished 34th overall.
Wuilliez, 22, has had a wonderful track record thus far, earning a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke and a bronze in the 100m event at the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championships (CCCAN) held in Mexico in June earlier this year.
Grand'Pierre, 21, is Haiti’s current record holder for the 50m and 200m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley (IM). He also won multiple New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championships and is an NCAA Division III All-American. Earlier in June, he won the 100m breaststroke at the CCCAN in 1:02.39.
Meanwhile, this was Noel’s Olympic Games debut. The 18-year-old has established himself as one to look out for in the future, as he shattered five team records for the South Jersey Aquatic Club at the Middle Atlantic Senior Championships. He finished his short course season, winning five races and setting nine personal best times in addition to his records.
Noel won the competition and broke team records in the 500 free, 1000 free, and 200 fly. He boasts a track record in swimming, with five gold medals at the 2023 Carifta Swimming Championships. Breaking five nation records.
Aruba's Philip Elhage fails to advance in men’s Air Pistol Shooting
Aruban sport shooter Philip Elhage failed to advance past the preliminaries of the men's 10-metre air pistol qualification round.
The Curaçao-born athlete finished 33rd with a score of 554-7x, failing to qualify for the next round.
Despite falling short, the performance represented an improvement for Elhage, who shot 556 points in the 2020 Tokyo Games, where he placed 35th.
Elhage previously competed for the Netherlands Antilles in the men's 10-metre air pistol at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Then, he placed 46th with a total score of 566 targets.
Jamaican Judoka Ashley McKenzie through to men's 60kg round of 16
Jamaica’s Judoka Ashley McKenzie secured a spot in the Men’s 60kg Round of 16 following a comprehensive 10-0 victory over Yemen’s Hesham Makabr in preliminary round action at the Champ de Mars Arena in Paris on Saturday.
McKenzie, the first Jamaican athlete to compete at the Paris Olympic Games, defeated Makabr by throwing a tai otoshi. He received one yellow card, while his opponent, Makabr received two.
The United Kingdom-based McKenzie, who is making his fourth Olympic Games—first under the Jamaican flag—displayed his immense ability ahead of the Games when he won an historic bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) for Jamaica in El Salvador last year.
McKenzie, 35, previously represented the UK at his last two Olympic Games.
His opponent for the next round is Salih Yildiz of Turkey.
Cuba's Blanco through to quarterfinal, Bermuda's Alizadeh to contest repechage in men's rowing
Cuba's Reidy Cardano Blanco progressed to the quarterfinal of the Men's Single Scull, while Bermuda's Dara Alizadeh will contest the Repechage round after placing third and fifth in their respective heats of the rowing competition, which got the Paris Olympic Games under way at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Saturday.
Though quick at the start, Blanco couldn’t match the pace of his more fancied rivals and settled for third in seven minutes and six seconds (7:06.45) to book his spot in the next round. Germany’s Oliver Zeidler (6:54.72) and Uruguay’s Bruno Cetraro (7:04.04) were the top two finishers in that heat.
Prior to the 28-year-old Spanish-speaking Caribbean representative’s feat in heat five, Alizadeh was the first Caribbean athlete in action at this edition of the global multi-sport showpiece. He crossed the line in seven minutes and 23 seconds (7:23.70) as he just missed out on a top-three automatic qualifying spot to the quarterfinal from heat four.
However, the Bermudan will have another chance to qualify for a spot through the repechage round to be contested on Sunday.
Alizadeh, 30, who switched from team to individual competition in 2019, after a few medal-winning feats, also represented Bermuda at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he placed 18th in the single sculls.
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