“It means everything” – Farrell on 200m South American youth record

Last Saturday, Guyana’s Deuquan Farrell pulled off the unthinkable, shattering the South American Youth Games 200m record on his way to a gold-medal finish in the event.
Farrell clocked 21.18s ahead of Ecuador’s Mateus Ledesma in 21.24s and Brazil’s Pedro de Araujo in 21.74s.
While the run has etched Farrell in the South American record books, replacing Argentina’s Tomas Mondhino’s 21.28s in 2022, it was an equally surreal moment for the teenaged athlete.
Earlier this week, Farrell recalled the emotions he felt before, during and after that race, describing it as amazing.
“It means everything to me, yeah,” Farrell shared with fellow athletes and administrators at the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) headquarters at Liliendaal.

The sprint athlete went on to recollect, “The night before, I didn’t getting to sleep properly and saying to myself, ‘Tomorrow I got to break this record’. And the day at the starting line, I was quite nervous at the same time, saying, ‘If I don’t break this record, if I ain’t medal, what will happen?’. When the gun went off and I started to run, came off the turn first, I said, ‘This is quite easy.’”
“After I crossed the finish line, I was in a rush to see the time, if I break the record, and I didn’t look back yet. My friend Gordon turned and said, ‘Deuquan, look, you break the record.’”
Farrell said with a laugh, addressing the note that was hidden in his vest, “I wrote ‘One Guyana’, knowing, saying if I win this, I got to show Guyana what I wrote the night before. It was quite a great opportunity.”
In addition to the record, Farrell ended his campaign at the games with three medals, gold in the 200m and 4x400m relays and a bronze in the 4x400m relay, for an impressive haul.