Gambian female athlete, Gina Bass, dominated the 100 and 200m race of the annual Dakar Regional Athletic Championship held from the 4th to the 8th May, 2016 at the Leopold Sedar Senghor and Iba Mar Diop Stadiums in Dakar, Senegal.
Gina Bass, who is on a Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) Olympic Solidarity Scholarship at the IAAF High Performance Centre (HPC) in Dakar, won the 100m event with a timing of 11.40 seconds in the opening day of the Championship.
She was followed by another Gambian Fatou Sowe, both from Jaraaf Athletics Club with a timing of 12.05 seconds while Pesse Prenam of IAAF Performance Centre finished 3rd with 12.13 seconds.
Barely twenty hours after winning the 100m, Gina Bass, who was last month awarded as Gambia’s Best Female Athlete by the Sports Journalists Association of The Gambia (SJAG) stepped up again to sweep the 200m with a time of 23.18 seconds.
Another Gambian athlete under GNOC Scholarship in Dakar, Adama Jammeh, dominated the 200m with a timing of 20.62 seconds. He was followed by Senegalese sprinter Moulaye Sonko with a timing of 21.14 seconds.
In the 100m men, Adama Jammeh finished 3rd in 10.34 seconds, behind Moulaye Sonko in 2nd with 10.33 seconds and Guy Arthur Cisse, first position with 10.30 seconds.
The two Gambian athletes, Gina Bass and Adama Jammeh, both competing under Jaraaf Athletics Club, were the stars of the Championship, making the best performances with a total of 1116 points and 1118 points respectively.
Adama Jammeh was also voted as the best athlete of the regional championship.
The third GNOC scholarship holder, Omar Jammeh, won the 800m men with in 1’50’.12.
In the 400m, Tijan Keita finished second with a timing of 48.22 seconds behind Jules Antony Afoumba in 47.86 seconds while David Leon Bass was ranked third with a timing of 48.68 seconds.
According to the President of Dakar Athletics League, Bara Thiam, the objectives of the Championship were to test and select the best athletes for the Grand Meeting of Dakar on May 25 as well as prepare for the 2016 Senegalese National Athletics Championships slated for the 5, 6 and 7 June.
He also revealed the competition boosted their preparation for the African Athletics Championship to be held in Durban, South Africa from the 22-26 June, 2016.
Source: Namory Trawally
