Running into a headwind on Saturday, Anthonique Strachan continued a resurgent season for her, finishing second in the women’s 200 meters (m) at the Velocity Fest #7 Meet at Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.
Strachan, who has a season’s best time of 22.67 seconds, was only able to run 23.87 on Saturday – a week after her 27th birthday. The more important aspect for her is that she appears to be fully healed from a grade two hamstring tear in her right leg from last year’s Doha World Championships.
The 22.67 time that she did at the fifth version of the Velocity Fest event two weeks ago was her fastest time in six years – ever since she ran 22.58 seconds at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgiumin September of 2014.
On Saturday, Strachan finished second to Elaine Thompson-Herah. The Jamaican double sprint Olympic Champion crossed the finish line in 22.79 seconds. She has a season’s best time of 22.19 seconds and is the third-fastest athlete in the world this year.
Strachan was a distant second on Saturday in 23.87 seconds and Srabani Nanda, of India, finished third in 24.06 seconds. All three women compete for the Maximising Velocity & Power (MVP) Track and Field Club in Kingston.
Despite the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Strachan is having one of her more progressive seasons in recent years. She dipped below the qualifying standard in the women’s 200m for the Tokyo Olympic Games twice, but it is all for nought as the qualifying period has been suspended until December 1. The postponed Olympics has been pushed back to July 23 to August 8, 2021, still in Tokyo, Japan.
Strachan has run 22.67 and 22.72 and the qualifying standard is 22.80 seconds. She said last week that the decision of World Athletics to suspend the qualifying period is disappointing, particularly since athletes are still competing during this time.
“I find it to be odd since a world record was set and that was recognized but how can you count a world record and not count qualifications? They should have changed everything once athletes started competing and once they themselves started hosting track meets,” said Strachan.
The former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Female Rising Star winner is optimistic for the remainder of the season and going into 2021. Strachan said that there is still a chance that she will go to Europe this year to compete in a few meets on the circuit.
She has run in all seven of the Velocity Fest meets in Jamaica this year – three times in the 100m and five times in her specialty, the 200m.
The Bahamian female sensation remains confident that she will eventually return to elite status that she exhibited as a junior when she was arguably the top sprinter in her age group on the world stage. Strachan is a former double sprint champion at the World Junior Championships, and as mentioned, a former IAAF Female Rising Star award winner.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/strachan-finishes-second-in-200m-in-jamaica/
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