Olympic hopeful Chance to compete at Gamecock opener

Jan 08, 2020 Sports

“Hard work, prayer and God; keys to success”

By Calvin Chapman

Kaieteur Sport caught up with U.S. based student-athlete and Tokyo Olympics hopeful, Arinze Chance, who shared with us that he will begin his 2020 season next weekend at the University of South Carolina’s Gamecock opener in Columbia.

Arinze Chance is looking to make a big splash on the NCAA scene again this year with one eye on the Tokyo games.

The sprint ace, who also attends South Carolina University (USC), had given himself a wonderful birthday present at this meet last year when he broke Guyana’s National indoor 400m record at the USC’s remodeled Indoor Track and Field Complex.
Chance, who will be 24 years on January 20th, registered an official time of 46.15s seconds at the 2019 Gamecock opener, the best time by a Guyanese on a normal indoor track, bettering the previous best of 46.49s by Jermaine Griffith in 2017.
The South Carolina senior who is majoring in Global Studies; specialising in leadership and economic development, also broke his university’s 400m record which had stood for 16 years last season and, with his aim of making the Tokyo games this July-August, he will be pushing hard to make the 44.90 Olympic standard.
Although the Olympic Standard (OS) of 44.90s is some way off of his best time (PB) of 46.05s (outdoor), Chance explained to Kaieteur Sport that he will be digging deep this season to shave off the 1m 15s off his PB; “A difficult task but nothing good ever comes easy,” the athlete noted.
He furthered shared that, “I’m of the belief that through hard work, humility and faith in God, I’ll achieve all that I have to in this upcoming track & field season.”
2019 was a great year for Arinze, his 46.15s was the fastest 400m time in the NCAA setup last season and the final year student had also broken Guyana’s 300m record with a blistering 33.00 seconds at the Orange & Purple Elite track meet.
The former Police Progressive Youth Club (PPYC) athlete praised the efforts of his Coach Curtis Frye who has brought him a far way and he emphasised that as an athlete you don’t get much support in Guyana when you have proven yourself at the top level and the situation is even worse when you are now developing.
The current Aliann Pompey Invitational 400m champion posited that he is trying to get as much international exposure. Exposure that he believes will build his confidence moving forward.

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