Men’s 400m trio, Gittens to make Olympic entry tonight

THE TT trio of Machel Cedenio, Deon Lendore and Dwight St Hillaire will turn up in round one of the men’s 400-metre heats and Tyra Gittens in the women’s long jump at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, on Saturday night (TT time).

St Hillaire, who had a solid showing in the 2021 US college season with the University of Kentucky, will be the first 400m runner on the track at the Olympic Stadium for TT when he lines up in heat three at 10.01 pm. St Hillaire has a season’s best of 44.74 seconds.

Lendore has had impressive runs for the season with a best time of 44.73. He will run in heat five at 10.17 pm.

Cedenio, a finalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, will round off the night for TT in heat six at 10.25 pm. Cedenio is ranked eighth in the world, but has only managed a time of 45.34 this season.

The first three in each of the six heats and the next six fastest will advance to the semifinals carded for Monday at 7.05 am.

Gittens, who had a stellar college season with Texas A&M, is among the field in Group A of the women’s long jump qualification phase at 8.50 pm.

She has a season’s best of 6.96m. A total of 15 participants will compete in Group A and another 15 in Group B. Gittens will aim for a leap of 6.75m or a top 12 finish overall to advance to the final on Monday at 9.50 pm.