Home|Sports|Strachan finishes sixth in the women’s 200mSports

Sheldon LongleySend an emailAugust 28, 2023 23 4 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Anthonique Strachan is sixth in the world – her highest ever finish at the world championships – and she did it in her second-fastest time ever.

The 19th World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Stadium in Budapest, Hungary, climaxed on Friday with a sixth-place finish for The Bahamas in the women’s 200 meters (m) final, and given the caliber of runners who were in action, sixth is not bad at all.

Strachan clocked 22.29 seconds – her second-fastest time ever – and said afterwards that she was satisfied with how the race went and content with the final result, knowing that she was running in her first global final, on the senior side, and knowing that she laid it all out on the track.

Running out of lane three, Strachan found herself trailing the front runners coming off the curve but powered her way down the home stretch, like she always does, blowing past former world champion Dina Asher-Smith, of Great Britain, and securing the sixth-place finish. The others were too far gone, but Strachan’s resilience and determination on the home stretch enabled her to finish strong and clock 22.29 seconds.

“This is my first world championships where I did not leave hurt, first time making a global final, so I’m taking the positive out of it,” said Strachan. “At the end of the year, I’m still going to be top eight in the 200 meters regardless and my season isn’t done yet, so there is still time for improvement.

“This just goes to show that the sacrifices I made this season are paying off, which means that next season, going into an Olympic year, I’m going to sacrifice even more, just go 10-fold. I know now that I am top tier. I didn’t lose what I had as a junior. I still have it and I just have to go from there.”

Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica, successfully defended her world title, winning the gold medal in a new championship record of 22.41 seconds, solidifying herself as the second-fastest woman ever, over that distance, behind the late Florence Griffith-Joyner. ‘Flo Jo’, as she was known as, is still listed as the world record holder with a time of 21.34 seconds – a time that has come under dispute many times as being illegitimate, with pundits citing the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Be that as it may, Jackson was in a league by herself Friday night. Running out of lanes eight and nine, Americans Gabrielle Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson were second and third in times of 21.81 and 21.92 seconds, respectively. Richardson’s time was a personal best for her.

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I double sprint champion Julien Alfred, of St. Lucia, finished fourth in 22.05 seconds. Daryll Neita, of Great Britain, was fifth in a personal best time of 22.16 seconds, and Strachan finished ahead of Asher-Smith and Marie-Josée Ta Lou, of the Ivory Coast, to take the sixth spot. Asher-Smith finished seventh and Ta Lou was eighth.

Strachan powered past Asher-Smith on the straight away. The back half of her 200 is always her stronger portion of the race, and it was no different on Friday night.

“I know that I have a lot of strength and endurance. I just kept telling myself to start it like a 100m race. I tried to do that – I don’t think I did it 100 percent but it was definitely better than what I did in the semis. It will all come together sooner or later. It has to,” she said.

Strachan said she will attempt to qualify for the Diamond League Final and finish the year strong before taking a break and then beginning preparation for an Olympic year in 2024. The 2024 Summer Olympics is set for July 26 to August 11, 2024, in Paris, France.

“I’m going to do some 100s to build more speed for the 200. I probably will regret saying this, but do some decent 400s as well,” said Strachan. “I will be ready for next year. I just want to say thank you to the Bahamian people so much. I see all the love and support that you guys sent over the past three days with me competing here at worlds. I really appreciate it. Also, thanks to the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture. He reached out to me and congratulated me on making my first final. Hopefully, this will reflect into something nice,” she added.

For her efforts, Strachan will pocket $7,000 prize money from World Athletics. The total purse is about eight and half million dollars. For her fourth-place finish in the women’s 100m hurdles, Devynne Charlton will pocket $16,000 from World Athletics. At this time, it’s unsure if they will be compensated by the government of The Bahamas, and if so, how much. The figures and incentives in the government’s remuneration program for the world championships have fluctuated, not being consistent, over the years.

Also, it’s not certain how being a global finalist would affect Strachan’s salary in the government’s subvention program.

Like Charlton, Strachan produced her best collection of races, in any one event, at the world outdoor championships this year. She ran times of 22.31, 22.30 and 22.29 seconds in the women’s 200m, improving by one, one hundredth of a second in each round. It’s three of the four fastest times in her career, trailing just the personal best run of 22.15 seconds she ran at the Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athletisme de Rabat in Rabat, Morocco, earlier this year.

At 30, she’s had the best year of her life in athletics, running personal best times in both the 100 and 200m, and climaxing the year with a sixth-place finish in the latter at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

Strachan appears to be getting better with age and that could be a good sign for her going into next year’s Olympics in Paris, France. She knows that it will take a mammoth effort to get on the medal podium at the Olympics and she’s ready and prepared for the challenge.

Strachan’s race was the final event for a Bahamian athlete at the world championships this year. The Bahamas ended the meet with two finalists – Charlton in the women’s 100m hurdles and Strachan in the women’s 200m, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively.

This is the first world championships since 2013 in which The Bahamas will not finish with a medal.