Jereem, Hackett go for 200m gold

NARISSA FRASER and ANDREW GIOANNETTI

TT’s athletes will go for gold again today as athletics action continues at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Sprinters Jereem Richards and Semoy Hackett will compete in the men’s and women’s 200-metre finals this afternoon, respectively.

Richards placed third in his semi-final heat yesterday with a time of 20.48 seconds — the third fastest of the three heats. He trailed behind Ecuador’s Leonardo Quiñonez, who came first in 20.41 seconds, and Dominican Republic’s Yancarlos Martinez who ran 20.45 seconds.

TT’s Kyle Greaux will miss out on final action after pulling up with an injury during his race.

In the women’s category, Semoy Hackett booked her spot in the final, also placing third with a season’s best of 23.31 seconds.

She will face competitors from Jamaica, Canada, the Bahamas, Brazil and Ecuador, including six-time Olympic medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica.

TT’s Mauricia Prieto failed to qualify, placing fourth in her race in 23.66 seconds

The women’s final will be held at 5.15 pm and the men’s at 5.30 pm (TT time). Rower Felice Chow will also be aiming for a medal today, lining up among the favourites in the women’s singles sculls event, at 11 am (TT time). The 42-year-old Olympian finished second in her heat and overall on Wednesday, clocking seven minutes 48.79 seconds, qualifying comfortably for the final.

Yesterday, Tyra Gittens was left disappointed after she failed to complete the women’s heptathlon.

Gittens, 21, started the day with the lead, following a win in the long jump and second place finish in the shot put and 200m, on Wednesday. She struggled, however, in yesterday’s long jump and javelin, finishing eighth in each, and pulled out of the closing 800m event because of an apparent injury sustained in the penultimate event.

Golfer Ysabelle Lawrence was the first athlete to compete for TT yesterday. After round one, at the Lima Golf Club, Lawrence closed in 30th out of a field of 32, having shot nine over par in nine holes. Canada’s Mary Parsons topped the leaderboard with 68 - three under par. The golfers will return to action this morning for round two.

Swimmer Dylan Carter, on Wednesday, placed fourth in the men’s 200m freestyle in one minute 47.78 seconds.

However, he did book his spot in the final of the men’s 100m breaststroke final, crushing his opponents as the easy winner of heat three. Carter swam 54.95 seconds, while his nearest challenger, Javier Acevedo of Canada finished second in 55.51 seconds. The final was held after press time last night. Giselle Gursoy featured in heat four in the women’s 100m freestyle, finishing seventh in 59.34 seconds. Gursoy’s heat was won by Margo Geer of the USA in 54.65 seconds.

Similarly, Gabriella Donanue was unable to progress in the women’s 100m backstroke as she finished fifth in her heat in one minute, 4.74 seconds. Seventeen-year-old Jada Chatoor challenged in the women’s 800m freestyle, finishing fourth in the first of two finals, clocking nine minutes, 22.79 seconds. The race was won by Maria Alvarez in 8:59.94.

In sailing, Andrew Lewis and Kelly-Ann Arrindell completed their men and women’s dinghy series races, finishing in sixth and 12th place, respectively.

Brothers Teague and Tariq Marcano were both on target at TT men’s hockey team scored their first win of the Pan American Games, beating Mexico 3-0 to guarantee for themselves at least a sixth place finish. Teague scored a pair of goals while Tariq got the other - all from the field - in a match of limited scoring opportunities. They face Cuba to determine the fifth/sixth placed finishers tomorrow.

Today, Daniel Catariz will return to action in the men’s recurve round-of-16 elimination against Cuba’s Hugo Franco Padron.

TT currently have six medals at the 2019 Games — two gold, three silver and one bronze.