Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Athletics Championships delivered a historic moment on Saturday, as Antigua and Barbuda’s rising sprint star Geolyna Dowdye claimed the top prize in the women’s 200-meter event while shattering a six-year-old championship record in the process.
Dowdye powered through the home stretch and crossed the finish line in a blistering time of 23.28 seconds, beating the previous championship benchmark by just two hundredths of a second. The new titleholder outperformed every competitor on the track to take home the gold medal, beating out the old record that had stood unbroken for nearly six full years.
The prior record of 23.30 seconds was originally set on July 2, 2017, by veteran sprinter Tahesia Harrigan-Scott of the British Virgin Islands, a mark that remained untouched through five editions of the regional championships before Dowdye’s breakthrough performance.
With her winning run, Dowdye not only added a second gold medal to Antigua and Barbuda’s tally at this year’s championships but also secured her place in OECS Championships history, as her time now stands as the fastest women’s 200-meter result ever recorded at the regional meet.