VIDEOS – #ReadySetRio: Wynter fails to advance, Alia into semis
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson advanced to the semi-final of the women’s 100m breaststroke after finishing second in Heat Five while Timothy Wynter finished second in Heat One of the 100m backstroke, but failed to advance.
Atkinson, who is competing in her fourth Olympics, took it easy throughout and was second in 1:06.72 minutes behind Yulia Efimova of Russia with 1:05.79.
[naviga:iframe src=”www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FJamaicaOlympics%2Fvideos%2F830771333690660%2F&show_text=0&width=560″ width=”500″ height=”333″ style=”border:none;overflow:hidden” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” allowfullscreen=”true”][/naviga:iframe]
“It was not too bad. I just wanted to get out there and do a good time and just make it to the semis,” said Atkinson.
Atkinson’s time was the seventh fastest of the 16 qualifiers. Lilly King of the United States of America was quickest with 1:05.76 minutes. Atkinson will be in action again at 8:30 pm Sunday.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Wynter went out fast and led at the halfway mark, clocking 26.99 second after 50m, but faded in the end and was second in 57.20 seconds behind Merdan Atayev of Turkmenistan with 56.34.
Both failed to advance to the semi-finals but Wynter was happy for the experience.
“It’s my first time at the Olympics so I am happy. My mind was kind of blank when I saw myself on the screen,” Wynter said with a smile.
[naviga:iframe src=”www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FJamaicaOlympics%2Fvideos%2F830783523689441%2F&show_text=0&width=560″ width=”500″ height=”332″ style=”border:none;overflow:hidden” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” allowfullscreen=”true”][/naviga:iframe]
Howard Walker