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Rachel passes Yvette’s time in World Indoor
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Posted on Mar 12 2012
CNMI sprinter Rachel Abrams completed her 60m race in the 13th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Turkey last Saturday (Sunday on Saipan) in 8.31 seconds.
The time was faster than the 8.68 seconds Yvette Bennett posted in the same event in Doha, Qatar in 2010. Abrams was on Heat 1 of the qualifying race, along with seven others.
Italy’s Audrey Alloh recorded the fastest time in the heat at 7.33 seconds to advance to the next round with two others—Jamaica’s Aleen Balley (7.34 seconds) and Great Britain’s Asha Philip (7.37 seconds). Also on the heat, but failed to qualify were Portugal’s Sonia Tavares (7.45 seconds), Bangladesh’s Papia Rania Sarkar (8.17 seconds), Kirghizistan’s Anna Bulanova (8.19 seconds), and Nicaragua’s Marian Inaly Morazan (8.29 seconds).
Eight qualifying heats were featured in the 60m run with eight runners competing in each race and only the Top 3 advanced to the second round. Nigeria’s Gloria Asumnu and Bulgaria’s Ivet Lalova logged the fastest times among the eight heats, with their identical times of 7.19 seconds.
The World Indoors held at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul was Abrams’ first off-island competition this year. Northern Marianas Athletics head coach Elias Rangamar joined Abrams in the Turkey trip. The two CNMI representatives are expected to return to Saipan before the week ends.
More than 1,000 athletes competed in the World Indoors that concluded yesterday. Winners of each event were given cash prizes. The top finishers got $40,000 each, $20,000 for second, and $10,000 for third. The three other placers (fourth to sixth) took home $9,000, $6,000, and $4,000. For relays, the Top 3 finishers received $40,000, $20,000, and $10,000, while the next three got $8,000, $6,000, and $4,000.
