It was a mixed bag for Caribbean representatives in the Repechage round of the men’s 200m and 400m hurdles and women’s 400m at the Paris Olympic Games, as only two of seven athletes were successful in progressing at the Stade de France on Tuesday.

Of the three Caribbean men in the 200m, only Jamaica’s national champion, Brian Levell, advanced to the semi-final after placing second in heat two in 20.47s, which was good enough for a non-automatic qualifying spot.

Another Jamaican, Andrew Hudson (20.55s), and Bahamian, Ian Kerr (20.60s), placed second and third, respectively, in heat four, but were not quick enough to progress as only the winner from that heat advanced.

In the women’s 400m, Puerto Rico’s Gabby Scott won heat two with a National Record of 50.52s to advance to the semi-finals, while Shaunae Miller-Uibo (53.50s) of the Bahamas was eighth in the same heat.

Earlier, Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams (51.84s) was fifth in heat one and failed to progress.

Meanwhile, Dominican Republic’s Yeral Nunez (53.68s), the lone Caribbean representative in the 400m hurdles, was fifth in his heat and missed out on a spot in the semi-finals.

The Caribbean contingent made a powerful statement in the 400m preliminary rounds at the Paris Olympic Games on Monday, with several athletes advancing to the semi-finals. Leading the charge were Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce, Stacey-Ann Williams, and Junelle Bromfield, joined by Barbados’ Sada Williams and the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino.

 Pryce, Jamaica’s national record holder and the fastest woman in the world this year over the distance with a time of 48.57, displayed her class by cruising to victory in the second of six heats. Pryce clocked a comfortable 50.02, ensuring her place in the semi-finals without expending unnecessary energy.

Her compatriot, Stacey-Ann Williams, also delivered a strong performance, securing second place in the opening heat with a season’s best time of 50.16. Williams finished behind the 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, who posted a swift 49.91, signaling her intent to reclaim her dominance in the event.

Bromfield rounded out the Jamaican qualifiers with a solid third-place finish in the final heat, crossing the line in 51.36. This heat was dominated by Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke, who looked impressive with a winning time of 50.09, while the USA’s Alexis Holmes followed closely in 50.35.

Barbados’ Sada Williams, a two-time world championship bronze medalist, continued to impress with a third-place finish in Heat 4, clocking 50.45. Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek, the European champion, won the heat with a sharp 49.98, indicating that she will be a formidable competitor in the semi-finals.

Paulino of the Dominican Republic, the reigning world champion, demonstrated why she is a favorite for gold by easily winning her heat. Paulino clocked a blistering 49.42, the fastest time in the qualifying rounds, with Cuba’s Roxana Gomez finishing second in 50.38.

In other heats, Great Britain’s Amber Anning, a fellow Razorback of Pryce, won Heat 3 with a time of 49.98, narrowly edging out Netherlands’ Lieke Klaver, who finished in 49.96.

However, not all Caribbean athletes had a smooth path to the semi-finals. Aliyah Abrams of Guyana will have to navigate the repechage round to secure her spot, adding an element of uncertainty to her Olympic journey.

As the world gears up for the track and field segment of the Paris Olympic Games, set to commence on Friday, athletes from various Caribbean islands are brimming with excitement and high expectations. These athletes, contesting a diverse range of events such as the 100m, 400m, 800m, and decathlon, are ready to execute with pride and passion, but more importantly, with hopes that the hard work done over the past four years will bear fruit on the global stage.

Having completed the final phase of their preparations at Complexe Sportif de l’ile des Vannes, ahead of competition, the athletes—Aliyah Abrams, Shakeem McKay, Shafiqua Maloney, Cejhae Green, and Lindon Victor—took time to share their eagerness with Sportsmax’s Alex Jordan.

Guyana’s Abrams, 27, who will contest the women’s 400m, is especially enthusiastic, as she seeks to create history by securing her country’s first ever track and field medal at the Olympic Games. The country’s lone medal to date was earned by boxer Michael Parris at the 1980 Olympic Games in Russia.

“It (the atmosphere) has been great, the weather has been good, and training has been great. This is my third day out and everything is coming together well, so I am excited. It is going great for me; I just want to really hammer throw the rounds and make sure I don’t leave anything off the track essentially. So I just intend on giving it my all and just doing my very best so I can make the final,” said Abrams, who will be making her third-consecutive Olympic Games appearance.

Another quartermiler, Shakeem McKay of Trinidad and Tobago, echoed similar sentiments as he hopes to make a memorable debut at the global multi-sport event. The 21-year-old, along with Jereem Richards, will carry the Twin Island Republic’s flag in the men’s 400m.

“It (being at the Olympic Games) is a dream come true,” he declared.

“I am just taking it day-by-day as it comes; I am not letting it get to my head or anything; I am just here to get the job done. Today (Thursday) was a fairly easy day; we had a couple sprints, accelerations, block starts and so on. So today was really just to prepare for tomorrow when we get on track,” McKay added.

The 100m dash, often regarded as the marquee event of track and field, will see several Caribbean sprinters vying for gold. Antigua and Barbuda’s Cejhae Green is among those that will line up in the men’s event.

Green, 28, is also making his third Olympic Games appearance.

“I am as ready as I can get. If you’re not ready by the time you get to the Olympic Village, then you’re in big trouble. I am feeling really good; actually, today was a really good day. Sometimes training doesn’t go as planned, but today was a good day…coach was happy, and once the coach is happy, I can’t complain,” Green shared.

Maloney, of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is one of the Caribbean’s middle distance hopefuls in the women’s 800m. The 25-year-old, who holds her country’s indoor and outdoor national records, is now eager to make her mark, as opposed to her debut outing at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

“Honestly, in Tokyo, I was not in a good place mentally, I was lacking experience and just wasn’t aware of what it takes to compete at the top level. Now I have more experience, I have been running for a couple years now, I am now on the professional circuit; and I am a lot more prepared mentally and physically,” Maloney explained.

“I am out here chasing a medal like everybody else; just take it one round at a time and get to the final, but I can’t think about the final until I get past each round. So one round at a time, and when I get to the final, I can think about the medal. It doesn’t matter what you ran before you came here; it is about what you do here, so you have to show up and compete,” she noted.

Meanwhile, Grenada’s Victor, will contest the decathlon, a grueling two-day event that tests an athlete’s versatility and endurance across ten disciplines.

Conferred with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) earlier this year, Lindon, 31, is hoping to make his country proud on this his third Olympic Games appearance.

“I have to compete and be a good ambassador for my country first and foremost. Once I compete hard, compete well, and do what I need to, I think Grenada will be proud, and a medal would be a cherry on top of that,” Victor stated.

With the stage set and the athletes ready, the world will be watching as these talented individuals strive for Olympic glory.

Track & Field fans around the world will be treated to an exciting clash in the women’s 100m hurdles at the season’s opening Diamond League meet in Xiamen on Saturday.

Jamaica’s two-time World champion, Danielle Williams, will take on newly crowned World Indoor 60m champion and record holder, Devynne Charlton, as well as 2021 Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper.

World record holder Tobi Amusan and reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn are also set to line up on Saturday along with Americans Alaysha Johnson and Masai Russell.

The field is completed by Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji, 2022 World Indoor champion Cyrena Samba-Mayela and China’s Yanni Wu.

Reigning Olympic champion Hansle Parchment will compete alongside countryman Orlando Bennett in the 110mm hurdles.

Bajan two-time World Championship bronze medallist Sada Williams will line up in the 400m alongside Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams.

Bahamian Anthonique Strachan will take on some of the world’s best in the 200m.

Finally, Jamaica’s World Indoor 60m bronze medallist Ackeem Blake, 2011 World 100m champion Yohan Blake and reigning national 100m champion Rohan Watson will all line up in the 100m against a stacked field including the likes of American world champions Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley.

Jamaica and Domincan Republic added medals to their tally on day three of athletics action at the Pan American (Pan Am) Games in Santiago, Chile on Monday.

For Jamaica, discus throwers Samantha Hall and Fedrick Dacres, both claimed bronze in their respective events, while Dominican Republic proved too good for rivals in the 4x400m mixed relay.

Hall, who competed at the World Athletics Championships in Hungary, claimed her first medal at the senior level, with a throw of 59.14m. She placed behind the Brazilian pair of Izabela Rodrigues, who won gold with a throw of 59.63m, and Andressa Oliveira (59.29m).

Another Jamaican Adrienne Adams was eighth in the event with a best mark of 55.55m.

On the men’s side, Dacres secured Jamaica's third bronze when he launched the instrument to a mark of 61.25m. Chile’s Lucas Nervi (63.39m), and Colombia’s Mauricio Alexander Ortega (61.86m), were first and second. Kai Chang, the other Jamaican in the event, was sixth at 59.96m.

Domincan Republic added a sixth gold medal to go with their four silver and 10 bronze, with victory in the 4X400m Mixed relay final. Their quartet, which included World Champion Marileidy Paulino, won in 3:16.05, ahead of Brazil (3:18.55) and United States (3:19.41).

Elsewhere on the track, Liranyi Arislayne Alonso of Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago's Reyare Mary Thomas, clocked identical times of 11.69s for second and third in semi-final one of the women’s 100m. Both, along with winner Cecilia Tamayo (11.66s) of Mexico, secured a spot in the final.

Guyana’s Keliza Smith (11.78s) and Jamaica’s Mickaell Moodie (11.86s), who also contested that semi-final, were sixth and seventh respectively.

Jasmine Abrams of Guyana won semi-final two in 11.60s, with Brazil’s Ana De Jesus (11.64s) and Cuba’s Yarima Garcia (11.65s), in second and third respectively.

On the men's side, Guyana’s Emanuel Archibald (10.35s) and Odaine McPherson (10.37s), produced contrasting performances in semi-final one, but did enough to secure their respective spots in the final. Archibald was third and McPherson, who advanced to the final as a non-automatic qualifier, was fourth.

They joined Jose Alnardo Gonzales (10.30s) of Dominican Republic, who won ahead of Brazil's Felipe Bardi (10.33s). Hakeem Huggins of St Kitts and Nevis was seventh in 10.54s.

Jamaica's Jevaughn Whyte and Samson Colebrooke of the Bahamas were fourth and seventh in semi-final two, clocking 10.52s and 10.62s, respectively, as both failed to make the final cut.

Cuba’s Shainer Rengifo was the lone Caribbean athlete to progress from semi-final three, which he won in 10.36s.

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams secured her spot in the women’s 400m final after she place second in semi-final one in 51.82s. Chile’s Martina Weil won the event in 51.47s, with Ecuador’s Nicole Caicedo (52.32s) third.

Marileidy Paulino stamped her authority as the best female 400m runner in the world for 2023 when she destroyed a talented field to win the one-lap sprint at the Diamond League finale in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday.

The 2023 world champion ran a fast 49.58s to add the Diamond League trophy to her world championship gold medal in what has been an incredible season in which she lost only once all year.

Paulino was almost a second clear of the fast-improving Polish athlete Natalia Kaczmarek, who clocked 50.38 for second place. Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands was not far behind in 50.47.

Jamaica’s Candice McLeod, who looked good for a podium finish after 300m faded to fourth in 50.76 with world championship bronze medallist Sada Williams of Barbados clocking 51.07 for fifth. Aliyah Abrams of Guyana was eighth in 51.97.

Defending women’s champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, five months removed from the birth of her first child, failed to advance to the semi-final round of the 400m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday.

The Bahamian star finished seventh in Heat 3 in 52.65. The 2022 bronze medallist Sada Williams of Barbados won the heat in 50.78 to keep her quest alive for another global medal in the one-lap sprint.

Meanwhile, all three Jamaicans advanced to the semi-final round of the competition. Jamaican champion Nickisha Price comfortably won Heat 4 in 50.38 over Cuba’s Roxana Gomez, who eased to second place in 50.86 and Gabby Scott of Puerto Rico, who was also an automatic qualifier, finishing third in a season’s best time of 51.07.

Candice McLeod was third in the opening heat in 50.37 to earn her place in the semi-final round. That heat was won by medal favourite Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland in an impressive 50.02. Cynthia Bolingo of Belgium ran a season’s best 50.29 to advance.

Charokee Young, meantime, sneaked into the next round as one of the sixth fastest finishers, when she ended up sixth in the sixth and final heat won by gold medal favourite Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic in a smart time of 49.90.

Young struggled to a time of 51.24.

Guyana’s Aliyah Abrahams was not as fortunate. She ran 51.44 to finish fifth in Heat 5 and failed to advance. Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke, who recently signed a professional contract, won the heat in 50.80.

Bahamian 400m superstar Steven Gardiner ran a season’s best to win the 300m at the Radd Collegiate Last Chance meet in Gainesville on Thursday.

The 27-year-old ran 32.58, the fifth fastest time in the world this year, to win the event ahead of Jamaica’s Mario Heslop (33.67) and Fabian Hewitt (34.42). Gardiner holds the World Record for the event with a 31.56 clocking in January 2022.

Gardiner, who finished top of the podium at the 2019 World Championships and 2021 Olympics, opened his season with a 33.03 effort to win his section of the 300m at the South Carolina Invitational on February 3.

The 2017 World Championship silver medallist is working his way back from a heel injury that forced him out of action for seven months, meaning he was unable to defend his World title in Eugene in July.

His last race before the layoff was on the 24^th of June at the Bahamas Championships in Nassau where he won in 45.22.

Elsewhere, Guyanese Olympian Aliyah Abrams won the women’s 400m in 52.09 ahead of Jessica Gbai (53.64) and Alexis Williams (55.39).

Briana Williams, Michelle Lee-Ahye and Shericka Jackson all advanced to the final of the Women’s 60m at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade on Friday.

Williams followed up her personal best 7.06 in the heats with a time of 7.07 to win the third semi-final ahead of Lee-Ahye who ran 7.12 for second place and an automatic berth in the final.

Jackson came third in the first semi-final and qualified as one of the fastest losers with a personal best of 7.08. The final is scheduled for later on Friday.

Stephenie Ann-McPherson won semi-final one of the Women’s 400m in 51.26 ahead of Femke Bol (51.28). Aliyah Abrams of Guyana finished third in 51.57 to also advance to the final. Shaunae Miller-Uibo looked in ominous form, easily winning semi-final two in a comfortable season’s best 51.38.

Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago put himself in position for a medal when he won his semi-final heat in 46.15.

It was bad news for Christopher Taylor who appeared to suffer an injury and did not finish his semi-final heat.

The Women’s and Men's 400m finals are scheduled for Saturday.

Guyana 400m sprinter, Aliyah Abrams, will approach competing at the Tokyo 2020 Games with fresh zeal after taking full advantage of the enforced break from the sport the coronavirus provided last season.

Like many others the Guyana national champion found herself upended with heavily disrupted training sessions, the majority of meets cancelled, and even eventual postponement of the Olympics.  Still, she endeavored to make the best use of the situation and found unexpected benefits.

“Despite the Games being cancelled and a whole lot of meets being cancelled it was the reset that I needed,” Abrams told SportsMax.TV.

“Sometimes you just need to step away from track and pursue and do other things that you enjoy.  When you come back to doing it, you can rekindle that flame that you had,” she added.

“A lot of things of things were shut down but I got a chance to spend some time with the people I love and recover my body and my mind.”

For the 24-year-old, Tokyo will represent her second appearance on track and field’s biggest stage, and in addition to being in a better frame of mind, she is also feeling in better physical shape.

“It’s been five years from 2016 to the 2021 Olympics, I was able to compete internationally and do well at Worlds and at Pan Ams, so I have more experience, I’m in better physical shape as well.  I’ve also run faster than I did heading into the first Olympics,” Abrams said.

The quarter-miler, who has a personal best of 51.13, has targeted cracking the 50-seconds barrier in Toyko, but in a highly competitive field that may not be enough to earn a place among the top eight women in the world.  Win or lose though, the plucky athlete certainly intends to give it her best shot.

“I haven’t been running the third 100 of my race the way that I want to this season, so I have been working on how to better execute that.  The problem has been the second part of my race.  Once I set that up, I’ll be in good standing,” Abrams went on.

On her Olympic debut in Rio, Abrams exited the competition in the first round, she has much higher targets this time around.

“My ultimate goal this time around is to make it to the final that would be a success for me."