World leading T&T athlete Lalonde Gordon will be seeking a spot in the 400m finals when he challenges the opening heat and perhaps the semifinals, today, the opening day of the IAAF World Indoor Championship, in Soport, Poland.
The 400m Olympic bronze medallist, who ran 45.17 seconds to set a world leading mark in Boston, last month, however, will line up in heat one, at 5.40 am (TT time), in an attempt to finish among the top two to advance to today's semifinals. The finals will take place tomorrow.
Jamaica's Edino Steele will line up with Gordon, as well as Dominica's Erison Hurtault.
T&T's second representative in the 400m, Jarrin Solomon will run in heat two alongside American David Verbur. Solomon's indoor 400m record is 46.23 seconds.
Tomorrow, T&T duo Michelle-Lee Ahye and Geronne Black will gear up for the first preliminary heat in the women's 60m dash.
Black's best 60m indoor run stands at 7.27 seconds, while Ahye's personal best is 7.13. Ivory Coast's Murielle Ahoure, who will also feature in the heats maintains the world leading time of 7.03. Ahoure is also the African record holder with a 6.99 mark.
The semifinals and finals of that event are carded for Sunday.
The T&T contingent was unfortunately cut down from seven athletes to four athletes due to the withdrawal of the promising 4x400m team.
One of the runners Jereem Richards opted out of the championship due to schools commitments, while Gordon's management asked that he (Gordon) be excused from the relays due to difficulties with his groin. They stated that running three rounds of the individual (400m) event and then two rounds of the relay would be too demanding of him, given his condition.