Keeping hope alive! Guyana into 4x100m relay finals

Aug 07, 2022 Sports

By Rawle Toney in Birmingham (Team Guyana Press Attaché)

Guyana’s hope of landing a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games is alive and well, after Emanuel Archibald, Arinze Chance, Noelex Holder and Akeem Stewart finished third in semi-final 1 of the Men’s 4x100m relay.

Strike Force! (from left) Akeem Stewart, Emanuel Archibald, Arinze Chance and Noelex Holder after qualifying for the Men’s 4x100m Relay Finals.

With another sold out crowd at the Alexander Stadium, 32,000-roaring fans witnessed the Guyanese quartet running 38.92s to finish behind Trinidad and Tobago (38.84s) and England (38.48s).

Stewart provided the perfect start for Guyana, running in lane two. His pass to Archibald, who ran a superb second leg, was out of a textbook.

Arinze didn’t leave things up for chance on the penultimate leg, as the National 400m Indoor Record holder was perfect on the turn.

Holder, receiving from Chance, powered down the last stretch as if there’s no tomorrow. He was greeted by his joyful teammates, who appropriately celebrated their historic run.

Yesterday’s race marked the first time, in the history of the Commonwealth Games which started in 1930, that Guyana was participating in the relays.

“It was a good effort. Everybody did what they were supposed to do and we got the results we were hoping for,” Chance stated after the race.

Flanked by his teammates, Chance said they executed according to plan, but, they will sit with coaches, Johnny Gravesande and Julian Edmonds and review the race to see if changes are applicable.

However, Holder, chirping in the background, said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

The Men’s 4x100m relay team will look to the podium today at 7:40am (GT Time), given the fact that they represent Guyana’s last chance of a medal at the former British Empire Games.

At the 1975 Pan Am Games, James Wren-Gilks, Dennis Collison (father of former NBA player Darren Collison), Clifton Schultz and Aubrey Wilson, ran a National Record time of 39.59s when they finished sixth in the finals in Mexico City.