Sagicor General has invested a sum of $150,000 into the staging of its annual National Open Track and Field Championships, which will take place at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo over the weekend of June 23 and 24. This was revealed during a press conference at the Courtyard by Marriott in Mucurapo yesterday morning. The event, a qualifier for this July’s London Olympic Games, will feature an elite field of local athletes including Olympic 100m silver medallist Richard Thompson, World Junior 400m champion Jehue Gordon and World Championship 100m bronze medallist Kelly Ann Baptiste as they vie for a spot on the national team.

Speaking during yesterday’s launch, Secretary of the T&T Olympic Committee Bryan Lewis said he was expecting a large turnout from the public as it would be the last opportunity to witness the country’s stars in action before the Olympics.
The Championships’ marquee event, the 100m sprint, will see its top three finishers making the cut for London. Other than Thompson, who will be going for his fourth straight national title, six other local sprinters have already attained the 100m qualifying standard of 10.18 seconds in the last two years. Among them are Keston Bledman (9.93), Aaron Armstrong (10.07), Marc Burns (10.09), Emmanuel Callendar (10.12), Darryl Brown (10.13) and Rondel Sorillo (10.17).
In all, 20 T&T athletes have achieved the Games standards for their respective events, including Gordon in the 400m Hurdles, Baptiste in the 100m and Renny Quow in the 400m.

In an effort to bring out a crowd on both days, the Women’s 100m final will be contested on the Sunday. So far, St Kitts & Nevis and Antigua have confirmed the participation the 100m relay, which has been certified by the IAAF. The highlight of last year’s championships was the performance of Thomspon, who set a new National record of 9.85 in the 100m. Other upcoming athletics events at the Hasely Crawford Stadium will include this weekend’s President’s Track and Field Classic, created to make up for the cancellation of the Hampton Games, and the National Junior Championships on June 2 and 3, which will serve as a qualifier for CAC Junior Championships in El Salvador and World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain in July. Other main sponsors will include Blue Waters and Adidas.

-Nicholas Clarke

Source: www.guardian.co.tt