*This article has been updated. An earlier version incorrectly listed Zaza in the men’s 400mH and Sirleaf in the men’s 400m. It also left out that Morrison will be running the women’s 200m.
The 22nd Senior African Athletics Championships has begun. The five-day event will last from June 8-12 at the Côte d’Or Sports Complex in Mauritius. Liberia sent a six-person team to the event.
This competition acts as the last qualifier for Africans hoping to compete at the World Championships in July. It also showcases some of the fastest and strongest that Africa has to offer in athletics.
Many of the runners have already qualified for the World Championships at previous events. Still, this meet gives them an opportunity to improve their rankings and show where they stand on the continent. Watch the following athletes in Mauritius.
- Telvin Jallah-men’s 100m
- Emmanuel Matadi– men’s 100m, 200m
- Ebony Morrison – women’s 100mH, 200m
- Akeem Sirleaf– men’s 100m, 200m
- Nancy Tokpah- women’s 100m
- Wellington Zaza– men’s 110mH, 200m
View daily recaps below.
Day one results
Tokpah started the international meet off for Liberia. She raced in the women’s 100m round one. Her final time, 12.67 seconds, did not allow her to advance to the semifinals. She placed fourth in her heat and ranked 23rd out of the 27 athletes who completed the race.
Next up, Jallah, Matadi, and Sirleaf competed in the men’s 100m race. Jallah’s competition ended in round one. His final time, 10.61 seconds, did not qualify him to advance. However, both Sirleaf and Matadi advanced to the semi-final. Sirleaf’s semi-final race ended in 10.25 seconds, narrowly missing a spot in the finals by a hundredth of a second. Lastly, Matadi’s 10.13 (2.6 wind) seconds-performance in both round one and the semi-finals placed him among the top finishers of the day. Matadi will advance to the men’s 100m finals.
Later, in the afternoon, Liberia’s male and female hurdlers took to the track. Both national record-holding athletes advanced to the next round. First Morrison completed the women’s 100 meters hurdles in 12.86 seconds (3.1 wind)—placing first in heat with the third overall fastest time. Zaza followed that performance placing first in his heat with the third fastest overall time as well, 13.53 seconds.
At the end of the day, three Liberian athletes—Matadi, Morrison, and Zaza—advanced to the finals in their events. Tomorrow, June 9, Morrison will race in the women’s 100mH final. Next, Matadi will run in the fastest event of the day, the men’s 100 meters final. Lastly, Zaza will compete in the men’s 110mH finals.