World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade: Aliyah Abrams shatters Aliann Pompey’s South American record

The International Track and Field arena was treated to a foretaste of Guyanese athletics excellence this weekend when four athletes represented Guyana at the ongoing World Athletics Indoor Championships being held in Belgrade, Serbia.

These Guyanese were quick to make their mark in the first two days of the competition, with the most notable of those achievements being Aliyah Abrams’s South American Women’s Indoor 400M record.
This young gun was stunning in competition on Friday night as she established a record-breaking run in the Women’s 400M semifinal. In the Heats, the 24-year-old Abrams finished 2nd with a time of 52.34s, just behind Poland’s Nathalia Kaczmarek, who clocked 52.22s. However, she returned in the semifinal to clock 51.57s, finishing 3rd behind Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson (51.26s) and the Netherlands’ Femke Bol (51.28s).
While that time qualified her for the final, it also shattered the previous South American Indoor Women’s 400m record, and by extension the Guyana record, which was held by Aliann Pompey. Pompey had, in 2010, set the South American record of 51.83s at the NYU Fastrack Invitational in New York City in February.
Abrams, however, could not get past ‘the final hurdle’, and placed 5th in the Indoor final, clocking 52.34s in that race. Olympic Champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo took gold with a season’s best 50.31s run, while Femke Bol (50.57s) and Stephenie Ann McPherson (50.79s) completed the podium.
Meanwhile, Aliyah’s sister Jasmine also took to the Indoor track in Belgrade, Serbia on Friday, but she was not so fortunate. Jasmine’s 7.36s finish in the Women’s 60M was not good enough to get her past Heat 2. The final race was eventually won by Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji, who took Gold in 6.96s.
Quamel Prince also bowed out in the round of the Men’s 800M heats. Prince ran 1.55.85 in Heat 1 to finish 6th, but only the top two moved on to the final.
Travis Collins also had a remarkable run in the Indoor Championships, setting the track alight with his 6.66s in the Men’s 60M heats. Collins clocked that time to win Heat 6 and move on to the semifinals.
In semifinal 1, he crossed the line in 6.67s; however, this time fell short of what was required to take Collins to the final. The 60M final was eventually won by Olympic Champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy, who clocked 6.41s.
The World Indoor Championships commenced on Friday, March 18, and will conclude today, Sunday, March 20, 2022. (Jemima Holmes)