World U20 Championships: Austin bows out in 400M semis

…McPherson, Springer miss out in preliminary Heat

There were mixed results on the cards for Guyana’s athletics team at the World Under 20 Championships, Day 2 in Lima, Peru.
Narissa McPherson was the first to hit the track for Guyana, clocking 54.67s for 6th place in Heat 2 of the Women’s 400M event. That Heat was won by Dianna Proctor of Canada in 52.73s.
In Heat 5 of the same event, Tianna Springer grossly misjudged her opponents, easing up some 20 metres away from the finish line to stop the clock at 54.49s for fourth place, thus missing out on an automatic qualifying spot for the next round. Prior to easing up, Springer had been leading the race. The Guyanese was eventually pipped by Italy’s Elisa Valensin, Slovakia’s Karolina Zbicajnik and Australia’s Amelia Rowe in 53.82s, 53.86s and 54.10s respectively.

In an equally heartbreaking revelation, Springer missed out on the timed- qualification spot by one hundredth of a second; Norway’s Borghild Holstad grabbed the final semifinal qualifying spot in 54.48s.
Malachi Austin was a bright spark for the Guyanese team, however, as he advanced to the semifinal of the Male 400M event. Austin crossed the line in 46.92s for second place in Heat 5, which was won by Japan’s Kentaro Shirahata in 46.45s.
The only Guyanese to advance past the Heat stage thus far, Austin later suited up for the semifinals, Heat 2 in which he unfortunately ‘pulled up’, thus hampering his ability to finish the race.
Shirahata, who won Austin’s preliminary Heat, also won that semifinal in a personal best time of 46.30s.