National Table Tennis player Chelsea Edghill will represent Guyana at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, scheduled to be held from July 26 to August 10.
Edghill, Guyana’s highest-ranked female player, had narrowly lost in her Olympic qualification quest in a seven-game thriller to Estella Crespo of Cuba at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Americas Pan American qualification event held in Peru from May 14-18.
However, she was granted the sole female wildcard spot to the games when she gained the votes of the International Olympic Committee and International Table Tennis Federation.
For Table Tennis only one Men’s Singles and one Women’s Singles wildcard Tripartite Commission Invitation Places for the sport are made available for the Olympic Games.
This would be Chelsea’s second showing at the summer Olympics Games; she became the first Table Tennis player from Guyana and the first female player from the English-speaking Caribbean region to qualify for and compete at the Olympic Games when she participated in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
At the Tokyo Games, she had an impressive showing, captivating Guyana and the Caribbean region when she defeated two-time Olympian Sally Yee of Fiji 4-1, 11-5, 4-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8, a commanding debut performance in the preliminary round at the global Games.
Edghill progressed to the main draw, but lost to Yubin Shin of South Korea in the Women’s Singles at the Tokyo Olympic Games 11-7, 11-8, 11-7, 12-10
Edghill, who is a University of Lindenwood Missouri graduate in Chemistry, a holder of a master’s degree in Sport Management from the University of London, Chair of the Athletes Commission Guyana, is a former ITTF with The Future in Mind Scholarship Awardee and a former Junior Olympian (Nanjing China 2014).
She has been a Caribbean champion at different levels, and a winner of several medals at the Caribbean, European, international and North America and collegiate level. She also played professionally in Portugal at club Lusitania de Lourosa and in Germany in 2023.
“This is a win for Guyana and regional Table Tennis and is a testimony to the talent, hard work and determination of Chelsea, built on the sacrifices of the player, officials, sponsors and stakeholders of the past and present Olympic Games. This represents a truly historic achievement. It is once again a victory for us as a nation, and as a region,” the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) said in a release.
“It is significant in that this has shown ITTF and IOC recognition of our player’s talent and country programmes in selecting Chelsea. This provides the platform for us to continue to enhance the sports profile and market Guyana to the world, lobby for more support for our athletes and truly shows we have players with the talent and ability.”
The GTTA is of the strong view that Shemar Britton was also a key candidate for a wild card spot given his performances in international competition during the qualification period June 2023 to June 2024. However, he was unable to attend the qualification events due to clashes with the Olympic qualification event and final year exams at the Hugh Wooding Law School, which was a key requirement to being considered for selection for wild card spots.
“The key focus is working on ensuring that Chelsea continues to get the requisite preparation to face the challenge ahead. Part of this process has been a programme with coach Yasel of Cuba in Guyana,” the GTTA said.
