Close to 60 international athletes are in Port of Spain, Trinidad to compete in the Quantum Invitational Track and Field Classic, 4 p.m. tomorrow (May 19) at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. There are 14 Canadians, four Cubans, and some 20 Americans athletes, among others, who are listed to compete in an array of events.
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Wilson (left) and Quow.
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Meanwhile, a number of local competitors will also by on show. Hometown quarter-miler Renny Quow flew to Trinidad on Friday to compete after placing second at the Daegu championships meet to Kirani James of Grenada with an Olympic B qualifying standard time of 45.65secs. Quow will line up with Ivory Williams of the USA and Justyn Warner of Canada in the men's 400m section two.
Also going home to compete in the men’s 110m hurdles is Mikel Thomas of Trinidad, who will go up against Ingvar Moseley of Canada, Duece Carter of Jamaica and Ronnie Ash of the USA. He made it to the second round of the 110m hurdles at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
This year’s meet will focus also on three less popular field events. In the javelin throw, Trinidad’s world leading junior thrower Keshorn Walcott will compete along side the Cubans. Having achieved a distance of 77.59 meters at this year's Carifta Games in Bermuda, Walcott will attempt to break his own record. He will come up against Michel Mirand Alvarez of Cuba, who competed at the 2011 Pan American Games, throwing 73.91 meters.
The shot put is where Gwendolyn Smith will seek to retain her top sport title in competing against Cuba’s Nieves Berro Luna. In April, Smith represented Trinidad and Tobago and captured the gold medal at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Finland.
Four-time Carifta Games champion Quincy Wilson of Trinidad and Tobago will contest the men’s discus throw, competing for the top title against Cuba’s Yunio Lastre Hechavarria, who at the 2012 Pan-American Championships, threw 61.07 meters.
International Rivals
The international roster is also expected to provide strong competition. Francena McCorory, who established the American indoor 400m record in 2010 at the age of 22, will line up against her compatriot Natasha Hastings. Her record time eclipsed Diane Dixon's 19-year-old record of 50.64, set in 1991 and surpassed Hastings’s collegiate record of 50.80 in 2007. McCorory made the 2011 World Outdoor Championships final.
Olympian Rafeeq Curry will open his 2012 season at the Quantum Games in the triple jump. Rafeeq, who lives in Tallahassee, Florida, will aim to jump his way again onto the USA team to the 2012 London Olympics.
USA’s Ivory Williams will open his season tomorrow by competing in the men's 100m. His personal best (PB) time is 9.93secs.
Charles Clark, USA, will be on the track to test the 400m competition. After coming back from an injury, Clark earned 2011 All-ACC honors in the 200m dash by finishing third in the event at the ACC Outdoor Championships. He is a three-time NCAA Champion, and a ten-time NCAA All-American Champion. Clark hopes to make the US Olympic team.