Wrestler Mackey will be in competition at Pan Am Games today
- Sheldon Longley
- Nov 2, 2023
- 0
Just one Bahamian athlete was in action at the 19th Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, on Wednesday, and that was Joshua Higgins in sailing.
The native of Harbour Island competed in the Dinghy – ILCA 7 event on the waters of the Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico in Algarrobo, Chile.
Stefano Peschiera Loret de Mola, of Peru, leads the competition with 27 total points, 19 net, Clemente Seguel Lacámara, of Chile, is second with 43 total points, 27 net, and Juan Ignacio Maegli Agüero, competing for the Independent Athletes Team, sits in third with 34 total points, 27 net.https://e51a618de255439781504e889db2549c.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
The Independent Athletes Team is a group of athletes from Guatemala, whose national Olympic committee was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and therefore not allowed to compete under the Guatemalan flag.
In sailing, the lower the score, the higher an athlete finishes on the placing chart.
Higgins has had a respectable performance in the series so far, finishing 17th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 19th, 20th, 19th and 15th in eight races. The worst finish is thrown out, leading to the 121 net points so far.
Higgins is the only Bahamian competing in sailing, representing the country in the International Laser Class Association (ILCA) Dinghy class.
Today, Bahamian Rashji Mackey will compete in the quarterfinals of the 86 kilogram (kg) class of men’s freestyle wrestling. That match is scheduled to get underway at 9:42 a.m. and will take place at the Centro Nacional de Entrenamiento Olímpico in Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile. Mackey’s opponent is yet to be determined, and a win would place him in the medal rounds.
The Bahamas’ final two athletes competing in athletics at the games will experience competition on Friday. They are Donald Thomas in the men’s high jump and Rhema Otabor in the women’s javelin.
Also on Friday, the golf competition will get underway. Nolan Johnson will represent the country in the men’s individual round and Bahamas Golf Federation (BGF) President Lynford Miller will serve as his caddie. The golf competition will take place at the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago.https://e51a618de255439781504e889db2549c.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
The Bahamas is currently in a three-way tie for 26th with Bermuda and El Salvador in the medal standings with one bronze medal, courtesy of Lamar Taylor in the men’s 50m free in swimming. Taylor finished third in that event in a national record time of 22.13 seconds.
The Bahamas has 20 athletes who are competing in six disciplines at the games – tennis, sailing, swimming, athletics, golf and wrestling. There are nine swimmers, five athletes in athletics, three tennis players, one sailor, one golfer and one wrestler.
The Pan American Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports and is the oldest continental games in the world. Competition is held among athletes from nations of the Americas every four years in the summer before each Summer Olympic Games. The 2023 Pan American Games are being held in Santiago, Chile, making Chile a first-time host of the event.