Local athletes hunting Olympic berths in French Guiana

The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) has sent the male 4x100m team to French Guiana in a bid to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The team departed Monday and comprise Emanuel Archibald, Shemar Horatio, Akeem Stewart, Noelex Holder, Jaheel Cornette, and Keiron DeSouza.
According to AAG’s General Secretary, James Cole, former national athlete Junior Cornette will coach the team.
The aim is to run the qualification mark of 38.80 seconds at the International Athletics meeting, the Games of Guyana, at the Dr Edmar Lama Stadium on Saturday, April 13.
At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Stewart, Archibald, Arinze Chance, and Holder were fourth in the final with a time of 40.05s.

James Wren-Gilkes, Dennis Collison Clifton Schultz, and Aubrey Wilson set the country’s national 4x100m record (39.59s) at the 1975 Pan Am Games.
Notably, Guyana’s 4x400m mixed relay team has qualified for the World Relays, which will be held in The Bahamas from May 4-5.
Meanwhile, Holder and Archibald will aim to make the 10.00 seconds qualifying time for the 100m, while Archibald hopes for 20.16 seconds or better in the 200m.
Holder’s personal best is 10.23 seconds, while Archibald’s is 10.13s and 20.69s in the respective events.
More so, Simeon Adams will hope to improve his best of 46.96 seconds in the 400m to make the entry mark of 45.00 seconds. His season-best has been 48.24 seconds.
2023 Pan American Games bronze medallist Leslian Baird also heads to French Guiana, hoping to meet the entry standard of 85.50m. This means he must surpass his current national record of 78.65m.
His bronze medal throw in November was 78.23m.
No Guyanese has qualified for the Games as yet through entry standards.
As with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, half of the athletes will progress through entry standards and the other half via world rankings.
The qualification period for the 10,000 meters, combined events, race walks, and relays runs from December 31, 2022, to June 30, 2024.