Brenessa Thompson opens up on records and Olympic qualification

By Treiston Joseph

Guyana’ s best female sprinter at the moment, Brenessa Thompson, finally shared how she felt about breaking the country’s 200 metres record along with qualifying for the Olympics with News Room Sport.

For those unaware, Thompson became the first female in Guyanese history to dip under the 23s mark with a time of 22.99s to register a new national record in May for the second time this year.

Thompson initially broke the record with a run of 23.19s in May as well, which eclipsed Aliann Pompey’s record on 23.33s.

However, in an exclusive interview with News Room Sport, Thompson shared what the moment meant to her.

“I’m really happy that I’m the record holder for the 200m, seeing that it’s not the event that I focus on a lot, being the first Guyanese to run under 23s is a big accomplishment for myself and my country,” Thompson stressed.

In addition, Thompson, who noted that qualifying for the Olympics was “great” revealed her thoughts on the accomplishment as a Guyanese.

“It is very important to me because Guyana isn’t really known in Track and Field, so putting them on the map would be a great accomplishment,” Thompson highlighted.

The 5’4” powerhouse is also of the belief that her training regime will afford her continued sustenance through the Rio Olympics as she singled out her main objective at the games, “To get more personal records.”

With better times on the mind of Thompson, the pocket rocket, shared that getting a podium finish for Guyana would be a “dream come true”, however the Texas A&M student also noted that she still has work to do on the first part of her 100 metres as well as the last part of the 200 metres if she to up her game in time for the Olympics.

Meanwhile, Thompson confirmed that she will be in Guyana for the Aliann Pompey Invitational scheduled for June 18 at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.