RACHAEL THOMPSON-KING

rachael.king@guardian.co.tt

T&T's 2008 Olympic 100 metres silver medallist Richard Thompson is among a list of leading national athletes that will compete at the inaugural North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) New Life Invitational meet.

The local sprinter is entered to race in the men's 100 metres at the World Athletics Continental Tour - Silver meet which will take place on Saturday at the Ansin Sports Complex, Miramar in Florida, USA.

He will face off against a tough field which include Americans Trayvon Bromell, who ran a world-leading 9.88-seconds run this year, and Christopher Belcher and Jamaican Yohan Blake, the 2011 100m world champion.

Thompson will race in lane four in heat two of three while another local sprinter Jerod Elcock will face the starter in the third and final heat, running in lane eight. The local duo will aiming to be among the top 16 qualifiers to progess from the three heats. The top four from each heat plus the next four best times will move on.

Thompson and Elcock are also likely to be on one of two T&T teams entered in the men's 4x100m relay against teams from Jamaica, Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana. T&T will try to improve on its time in the sprint relay for a qualifying spot in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in Japan.

In the women's version of the 100m dash, T&T's Michelle-Lee Ahye and Kelly-Ann Baptiste will chase glory against reigning double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and fellow Jamaicans Natasha Morrison and Briana Williams, Bahamian Tynia Gaither and American Tianna Bartoletta, to name a few that will compete in the dash.

T&T will also have four other sprinters in the event including Taejha Badal, Reyare Thomas, Kai Selvon and Semoy Hackett as they too battle for a spot among the top 16 qualifiers to progress from the three heats, similar to the men.

Thomas, Badal and Hackett will also line up in the 200m timed final. Thomas and Badal will race in section one which includes Thompson-Herah. Hackett will have Great Britain's Jodie Williams and American Brittany Brown, the 2019 World Championship 200m silver medallist to contend with in the other section.

The women sprinters named above will make up the unit to compete in the women's 4x100m relay as the local team tries to book a spot in the Olympic Games. The squad will race from lane five against one other competitor, the Bahamas.

T&T quarter-miler Deon Lendore and Che Lara are among the entrants in the men's 400m. Competing out of lane five, Lendore's biggest challenge will come from American LaShawn Merritt, the 2008 Olympic champion and Jamaica's Akeem Bloomfield in section two of two in another timed finals. Lara will be in lane six in the opening section race.

In the women's 400m timed finals, local quarter-miler Janeil Bellille will race out of lane seven in section one of two.

Kyle Greaux will be the lone competitor for T&T in the men's 200m dash. He will run in lane three in section two of two in the timed finals.

Mikel Thomas will tackle the men's 110m hurdles. He will line up in heat one of two and will be hoping to be among the top eight qualifiers to advance to the final - the top three in each heat plus the next two best times.

Andwuelle Wright will represent T&T in the men's long jump and his toughest challenger will be Marquis Dendy of the United States.

NCAA Indoor pentathlon champion Tyra Gittens, who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics following her performance in the long jump at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Texas recently, will feature in the event in today's Florida meet. which will see some 200 athletes from 27 countries compete.

Gittens achieved the Olympic standard in the long jump, with a 6.96m-leap, surpassing the 6.82 qualifying standard.