Namibia 100m record-holder Masilingi to compete at AP Invitational

With just over three weeks remaining before the return of the AP Invitational, the Women’s 100m field is shaping up to be the highlight of the Track and Field event, which will be held on June 22.

The field will feature 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago, Namibia’s 100m record-holder Beatrice Masilingi, and 2023 Central American and Pan Am Games silver medallist, Jasmine Abrams.

Also competing will be Athaleyha Hinckson, Guyana’s CARIFTA Games 100m champion, alongside compatriots Keliza Smith, Shantae George and Juvonna Cornette.

Masilingi, the 2021 World U-20 100m silver medallist, said the AP Invitational could be her last chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics, following her return to the track after serving a suspension imposed by World Athletics due to elevated testosterone levels.

In 2021, a week before the Tokyo Olympic Games, World Athletics barred Masilingi and her compatriot Christine Mboma from competing in events between 400m and one mile unless they agreed to take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels.

The pair competed in the 200m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where Masilingi finished sixth, and Mboma took silver, finishing behind Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah.

In March 2023, World Athletics announced that female athletes with differences in sexual development (DSD), resulting in high naturally occurring levels of testosterone, would need to reduce their blood testosterone to below 2.5 nanomoles per liter- half of the previously accepted level of five nanomoles- for a minimum of 24 months.

Having successfully lowered her natural testosterone, Masilingi is now ready to compete and vie for a place at the Paris Olympics. Masilingi holds Namibia’s national record in the 100m, with a time of 11.20 seconds.

For Michelle-Lee Ahye, who missed the Tokyo Olympics following a two-year ban for failing to notify doping testers of her whereabouts, the goal will be to run under the 11.07 seconds set by World Athletics.

Ahye and Jasmine Abrams share a bit of rivalry in the 100m.

At the Pan Am Games last November in Santiago, Chile, the Guyanese athlete clocked 11.52 seconds to finish second in the finals, just behind Cuba’s Yunisleidy Garcia, who ran 11.36 seconds. The Trinidadian finished third, running 11.53 seconds.

Abrams and sprinter Emanuel Archibald became the first Guyanese track and field athletes since Marian Burnett and Aliann Pompey’s 2003 performances to medal at the Pan Am Games.

Meanwhile, the event’s organiser, Aliann Pompey, expressed her excitement for the 100m showdown, adding that the line-up for other disciplines will be announced in due course.

With the AP Invitational being part of the World Athletics Continental Tour, Pompey noted that the June 30 deadline for Olympic qualification adds an extra layer of excitement for both participating athletes and fans.

She encouraging fans to turn out in large numbers at the National Track and Field Centre in Edinburgh.

Pompey, Guyana’s Commonwealth Games 400m gold and silver medallist, had to cancel the fifth edition of the AP Invitational in 2020 due to COVID-19.

With the completion of remedial work at the National Track and Field Centre, Pompey anticipates an epic meet, offering local fans the chance to witness top-notch talent from the country and the region.

The 2018 AP Invitational saw Kirani James, the 2012 Olympic Champion, 2016 Olympic silver medallist, and 2020 Olympic bronze medallist, clocking 44.99 seconds to win the 400m and set a new track record.

At the inaugural AP Invitational in 2016, 11 athletes from overseas qualified to compete at the Olympic Games in Rio.