[UPDATED] Ahye eyes 100m Pan Am medal

TT sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye will have the chance to add another international gold medal to her collection today at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

The Commonwealth Games gold-medallist won her semi-final 100-metre race yesterday afternoon to qualify for the final. She cruised past her competitors in 11.37 seconds, with Jamaica's Natasha Morrison following with a time of 11.59. TT's Kelly-Ann Baptiste also booked her spot in the final as one of the fastest losers, placing third in her race in 11.49.

In addition to Morrison, Ahye went up against Canada's Leya Buchanan, Argentina's Victoria Woodward, Grenada's Michelle Hazzard, Roberta Gladden of Belize and Franciela Krasucki of Brazil.

In 2018, she won gold in the women’s 100m final at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, becoming the first TT athlete to do so.

The final will be held at 5.40 pm TT time. Ahye will face competitors from Canada, Jamaica, Ecuador and Brazil, including two-time Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson of Jamaica.

Keston Bledman just managed to qualify for the men's 100m final at 5.52 pm today, after finishing fourth in the men's 100m semifinal one in 10.40. Tobagonian Akanni Hislop missed out on a spot in the final after ending sixth in 10.60 in semifinal three.

Another TT athlete qualifying for a final was Alena Brooks, who advanced to the women's 800m final at 5 pm today after clocking 2:03.79 in semifinal two.

Experienced long distance runner Tonya Nero finished tenth in a field of 13 competitors in the women's 10,000m final in 34:15.36 and Sparkle McKnight failed to advance to the final of the women's 400m hurdles after ending fifth in semifinal one in 57.04. Portious Warren did not complete any of her three attempts in the women's discus finals.

It will be another busy day for TT in athletics, as national long jump record holder Andwuelle Wright will line up at 4.35 pm in the finals. Machel Cedenio and Dwight St Hillaire will represent TT in the men's 400m semifinals from 4.40 pm and Tyra Gittens will start competing in the women's heptathlon at 3.40 pm.

In swimming, Giselle Selin Gursoy qualified for the B final of the women's 400m freestyle event after coming seventh and last in heat one in 4:28.63. The final took place after press time last night. Graham Chatoor advanced to last night's men's 400m freestyle B final after finishing second in heat one in 4:07.58.

It was a tough assignment for Kael Yorke in the men's 200m butterfly, as the TT swimmer ended sixth in heat three in 2:06.61 and missed out on a spot in the finals. Dylan Carter will start his quest for a medal in the men's 200m freestyle at 12.17 pm and Yorke will line up in the 100m butterfly at 12.45 pm. Gursoy will face the starter again this time in the women's 200m freestyle at 12.04 pm.

In sailing, Andrew Lewis and Kelly-Ann Arrindell continued to compete in the men's dinghy and women's dinghy respectively. After finishing tenth in race one, fifth in race two and 15th in race three, Lewis recorded strong performances, as he ended fifth in race four and third in race five. A total of 22 athletes are competing in the men's dinghy.Arrindell, in the field of 18 participants, finished seventh in race one, 12th in race two, eighth in race three, 12th in race four and 14th in race five. The TT sailors will continue competing today.

In rowing, TT's Felice Chow will compete in the women's single sculls at 10.20 am. In archery, Daniel Catariz will be the first TT athlete in action today when he competes in the men's recurve at 9.30 am.

This story was originally published with the title "Ahye, Baptiste headed to 100m Pan Am finals" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

TT's Michelle-Lee Ahye will have the chance to add another international gold medal to her collection on Wednesday. The sprinter won her 100-metre semi-final race a short while ago at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. TT's Kelly-Ann Baptiste also booked her spot in the final as one of the fastest losers, placing third in her race in 11.49 seconds.

Ahye cruised past her competitors with a time of 11.37 seconds, with Jamaica's Natasha Morrison following with a time of 11.59.

She also went up against Canada's Leya Rose Buchanan, Argentina's Victoria Woodward, Grenada's Michelle Hazzard, Roberta Gladden of Belize and Franciela Krasucki of Brazil.

In 2018, she won gold in the women’s 100m final at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, becoming the first TT athlete to do so. She also won the women’s 200 metre “B” race at the Spitzen Leichtathletik track meet in Switzerland in July.

The final will be held at 5.40 pm (TT time) on Wednesday.

JELANI BECKLES and NARISSA FRASER

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