Millington, Thompson strike gold, silver

…3×3 basketball teams suffer opening defeat

A personal best run from Ezekiel Millington and an equally spectacular display from Gordon Thompson resulted in top-of-the-podium finishes for the Guyanese duo at the South American Youth Games on Thursday morning.
The pair lit up the Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City, as Millington clocked 10.50s for the gold medal while Thompson crossed the line right after in 10.64s for second place and the silver medal. Chile’s Franco Alcayaga completed the podium behind the Guyanese in 10.72s.
Millington was just short of the games record, which was set at 10.48s by Argentina’s Tomas Mondino on his home turf, back at the 2022 Games.
Meanwhile, there were other commendable performances on the track for Guyana.
Akeelah Dover, in a courageous run, narrowly missed out on a medal, clocking 55.38s for fourth place in the Women’s 400M event. The race was won by Venezuela’s Waleska Guzman in 54.34s. Ecuador’s Daniela Quisnancela was second in 54.41s, while Dilany Criado, also of Venezuela, completed the top three in 54.84s.
In the male version of that event, Ade Sealey stopped the clock at 49.12s but was only good enough for fifth place. Brazil’s Kevin Aguero claimed the gold in 47.53s, followed by Venezuela’s Richard Carrillo’s 47.86s in second place and Sergio Escudero of Colombia, who clocked 48.17s for third place.
In the field events, Keimal Gishard and Courtney Haynes surged to 1.85m and 1.80m, respectively, for seventh and eighth place in the Men’s High Jump. Brazil’s Naftaly de Jesus and Lucas Silva occupied the top two, both recording 2.08m. Ecuador’s Ernesto Canola secured the bronze with 1.94m.
In addition, Nathaniel Samaroo threw 38.74m for 8th in the Men’s Discuss event. Chile’s Vittorio Reyes had the best throw with 57.77m for gold. Brazil’s Henthony Moraes’ 56.77m was good enough for silver, while Chile’s Julian Valdes completed the podium with a 55.16m throw.

Basketball
Guyana endured a tough start to their campaign at the 3×3 Basketball fourth edition of the games in Panama, going down to Brazil in their opening Group C encounter.
Brazil secured a commanding 21-9 victory, showcasing their offensive strength from the outset and maintaining control throughout the contest.
Gabriel Vitoriano da Silva Cesario led the scoring for Brazil with an impressive 10 points. He was well supported by Gabriel Antonievicz Pedroso and Gabriel Silva Bavoso, who each contributed five points to seal the win.
For Guyana, Jaden Holborn Simon was the team’s leading scorer with four points, while Kadeem Malakhi Beckles added two points. Despite their efforts, Guyana found it difficult to contain Brazil’s sharp shooting and quick ball movement in the fast-paced 3×3 format.
Guyana turned their attention to their next Group C match-up against host nation Panama, which was scheduled for later on Thursday night.
Millington’s and Thompson’s performance on Wednesday marked Guyana’s first gold and silver medals at the ongoing regional event, following two bronze medals from Ken Harvey and Ebo McNeil in boxing and athletics, respectively.
The athletics action at the South American Youth Games will continue on Friday, with chess and 3×3 basketball also in action.