Paris Olympics: Jamaicans Niesha Burgher, Lane-Tava Thomas advance to semi-final

Jamaica’s Niesha Burgher and Lanae-Tava Thomas have qualified for the women’s 200m semi-finals at the Paris Olympics Games. Both the females performed exceptionally to reach this milestone.  

Burgher finished with an impressive time of 22.54 seconds behind the USA’s Gabrielle Thomas who took the top spot while Thomas produced a smooth run, clocking in a time of 22.70 seconds. Thomas finished in second place behind Brittany Brown from the USA who ran a time of 22.38 seconds. 

According to the information, a total of 18 females have qualified to compete in the women’s 200m semifinals. These comprise of top athletes from the USA, Nigeria, England and the Caribbean, making it a very tough competition.  

Burgher just -graduated University of Texas At El Paso (UTEP) and concluded a stellar collegiate career by breaking an almost decade old school record formerly held by Nigerian Olympian Tobi Amusan. 

Notably, she clocked 23.20 seconds in the 200m at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiate Invitational on Jan. 21 to beat out Amusan’s time of 23.35 set in 2017, to hint at bigger things in her future. 

On the other hand, Lanae-Tava Thomas is making the most of her Olympic Games in her debut professional season. Before the games, she said that she will enjoy this time rather than just focusing on the outcome because it is her first time in the international games.  

As the two females from Jamaica qualified to the next round, making the victory one step closer, the citizens and residents of the country flooded the social media with congratulatory messages and extended their best wishes to both of them for the semi finals.  

“The race is not for the swift but those who endure to the end, congratulations,” wrote a user named Ann Mariel while another user said, “Thank you for stepping up I pray for favour and blessings.” 

Meanwhile, another Jamaican, a 32-year-old Shanieka Ricketts won Silver in the Women’s Triple Jump on Saturday at the Paris Olympics. After advancing to the finals with her initial best jump of 14.47, she managed to improve delivering a season’s best jump of 14.87m during the finals. 

Following her achievement, the leaders including Prime Minister Andrew Holness and citizens expressed their pride over the young female with several saying that these athletes are taking the small island’s name to new heights. 

Ricketts was able to celebrate the historic achievement with her husband, Kerry-Lee, who's also her coach. She said that she is hoping that her triumph can be an inspiration for Jamaican's Olympians. 

She further noted, “It makes me feel happy, to say the least. It's something that I've been striving towards throughout my career and missed the podium in Tokyo, and I think tonight is just sweet redemption. And I think for Jamaica, this can be a boost for the camp, and hopefully we'll have even better performances over the next few days.” 

As the Jamaican athletes continues to perform exceptionally at the Paris Olympics 2024, the citizens are anticipating for significant results by the end of the games.