Gina Bass secures 200m Olympics semifinal spot

Gambia’s track queen, Gina finished second in her women’s 200m round one heats seven on Monday with a timing of 22.74 seconds to advance to the semifinals.

There is hope that the national records holder in the 100 and 200 meters will progress to the finals of the Olympic Games as she is yet to hit her personal best of 22.58 seconds and seasonal best of 22.62 seconds.

Earlier on Saturday during her 100m semifinals race, Gina Bass finished 6th position to miss out on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games finals. She clocked 11.16 seconds.

She on Friday qualified for the 100 meters semifinals after finishing 4th in the round one heats. She clocked 11.12 seconds to set a new national record for The Gambia.

The track queen recorded her name in the history books in 2019 after winning the 200m gold at the Africa Games. She beat Ivorian Marie Josee Tallou, who was regarded as Africa’s fastest, setting a new national record with a time of 22:58.

The 26-year old Gambian athlete, who competes in sprinting events won bronze in the 200 metres at the 2016 African Championships, therefore securing her qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics and was the Gambian flag bearer.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she placed 52nd in the 200 metres heats and did not qualify for the semifinals.

Gina, is the first ever Gambian to qualify for the finals at the World Athletics Championships.

Gambia’s track and field queen finished second position in the 100m event at the 12th edition of the Montreuil Meeting in France.

The Gambia’s best female sprinter, clocked 11.30 seconds as she finished behind Marie Jose Talou, the sprinter she beat in 2019 during the 200m event at the 12th African Games in Rabat.

Gina has steadily improved her performance during her recent competitions in preparation for the Games. On 7th June in Prague, she clocked 22:76 in 200m improving on her timing.  On 9th June she competed in Marseille France winning silver with a season’s best timing of 11:21.  On 20th June in Poland, Gina broke her season best clocking 11:17 wining Gold.

It could be recalled that in February this year, Gina won the 60m women final at the IAAF World Athletics Tour in France. It was the first time Gina is competing in 60m race. The sensational sprinter powered away to a 7.16sec win.

In a separate development, the Minister of Youth and Sports Bakary Y. Badjie on Sunday visited the Olympic Village and met the Gambian delegation.

Hon. Badjie expressed the country’s gratitude to Olympians for being good ambassadors. He also congratulated them for their level of commitment and dedication which has shown in the high level of their performance.