By Avenash Ramzan
Reigning Jamaican national 400m hurdles champion Rushell Clayton, Ghana’s top sprinter Joseph Amoah and overseas-based Guyanese Aliyah Abrams in the Women’s 400m are set to bring their ‘A’ game at Saturday’s fourth edition of the Aliann Pompey Invitational at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
The trio spoke to News Room on Friday on the sidelines of the pre-meet press conference at SleepIn Hotel on Church Street, Georgetown.
Joseph Amoah (Ghana)- 100m and 200m
“This is my first time travelling to the South American continent; I was very happy (to be invited). To compete at this meet with overseas people and people from Guyana, I think this is a very good experience that I’m going to have. I’m just going to go out there tomorrow and try to run as fast as I can to win the race.”
“I’m really going to execute my race; these guys are very fast and you can’t go in and be complacent and be like ‘oh you also fast so you got the day’. I’m going to go out there and execute my race and be aggressive in everything I do.”
“Every athlete has jiggles before races, but I’m just going to go out there and run. I don’t think like there is any major pressure on me right now.”
Rushell Clayton (Jamaica)- 400m hurdles
“Being defending champion normally puts a lot of pressure on you, but I’m confident that I’ll go out there and execute to the best, because I’m coming off a high and I plan to just remain in the same way.”
“I’ve ran personal best here; I’ve ran season best here so it’s a good meet. It may be smaller than regular meets across the globe, but the competition is really good here.”
Aliyah Abrams (Overseas-based Guyanese)- 400m
“It’s all about executing my race plan that I’ve been working on all year. My coach has set out very specific details of my race I need to try and hit and execute, so I’m just going to go out there and do that.”
“(This year) I’m bringing more experience; I’m more comfortable running the 400m race. I have a new technique and it really works for me, so I’m just excited to put that into show tomorrow.”
“I want to break 51 (seconds barrier). It’s always one of my goals to get into the 50s, so that’s what I’m aiming for tomorrow.”
The event will start at 15:00h, with the official opening ceremony set for an hour later. A special presentation ceremony to honour past and present Guyanese Olympians would start at 17:00h.
