It
has been an unfortunate and disappointing performance for The Gambia’s athletic
giant Gina Bass, who failed to advance to the final rounds at the ongoing IAAF
World Championship in London.
The
22-year-old athlete, undeniably the fastest female runner in The Gambia, fell
short of her qualification target and bowed out of the London championship in
huge disappointment.
In
spite of her recent drop in form, Gina remains Gambia’s fastest female sprinter
and the biggest hope in major athletics championship thus far.
She
broke the national record when she won a gold medal while representing The
Gambia at the World International Athletics Championship that took place in
Baku, Azerbaijan, last May.
The
industrious young sprinter, who also holds national records in the 100 &
200 meters, finished first in the 100 meters race in Baku, en route to claiming
the gold medal.
She
continued her impressive performance and came out 2nd in the 200 meters race to
grab the silver medal, bringing her total number of medals to two, (gold &
silver), during the Azerbaijan games three months ago.
She
secured qualification to the ongoing IAAF championship in London in the
process.
This
is the highest achievement registered by a Gambian athlete in that category and
arguably the best ever.
Gina
also represented The Gambia during the 2016 summer Olympics games that took
place in Rio de Jenerio, Brazil, as the country’s flag bearer.
She
was placed 52 during the Rio Olympic Games but her latest drop in form meant
she could miss out on her record timing of 20:03secs she set during Islamic
World solidarity games held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Gina
was recently awarded female athlete of the year by the Sports Journalists
association of the Gambia in recognition of her outstanding performance in the
field of athletics.
However,
Gina is competing in the London Games along with fellow sprinter and comrade
Adama Jammeh, who also fell short of a qualification berth.
Adama
finished 5th on Monday with a timing of 20:79 seconds, a result that is not
good enough to see him advance to the next round of the prestigious athletics
championship.
The
athlete duo are expected to return home earlier than initially scheduled
following their early exit from the world’s second highest athletics
championship.
Adama
23, like Gina, was also named best athlete (men category), of the year by the
country’s sports journalists following his brilliant athletics display over the
past 12 months.
He
represented The Gambia at the world athletics championship in Beijing, China,
African athletics championship in Durban as well as the Rio Olympics games
prior to his latest participation at the London World Athletics championship.
