News20 Jun 2003


Mauritian Hopefuls Ready for Sherbrooke

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Guillaume Thierry in action (© Reynolds Quirin for the IAAF)

The hopes of Mauritius for the forthcoming IAAF World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke are focused on three young athletes, which we profile here.

Guillaume Thierry (17)
Pole Vault

Thierry will compete in the Pole Vault in Sherbrooke, even though he has the makings of a first rate decathlete. With a personal best in this discipline of 4.50 metres (28 March 2003, at Reduit), the youngster holds the national record for his age group, after bettering the mark of Kersley Gardenne (4.45 metres), who had also held the African Junior record.
Guillaume Thierry is not content to rest on his laurels  and every competition is a challenge and an opportunity to improve on his PB. “I think that if I change my pole, my chances of going higher will be better,” he says. I am sure that I can improve on 4.50 metres.” Perhaps Sherbrooke will be the place for him to achieve this target.

Antonio Vieillesse (17)
400 metres Hurdles

Born in Montagne Fanal at Rodrigues, Antonio Vieillesse reall broke onto the scene on 25 May 2003, in the Maryse Justin Stadium at Reduit, when he wiped off the record slate the 400 metres Hurdles mark of Gilbert Hashan (54.79), which had stood for 16 years.
With a run of 54.42, Vieillesse surprised the pundits, who had never imagined that he had this sort of potential, especially as this was only his third race ‘over the sticks’; a discipline he took up “just for the fun of it,” as he recounts. The new record surprised no-one more than Antonio himself: “The record was a huge surprise for me. I did not expect it at all. It was only two weeks before that it was decided that I would compete in the Hurdles at the Ntional Youth champs,” he confided after his record performance.

Catriana Laboudeuse (17)
200 metres

Catriana Laboudeuse is a true specialist of the half-lap race. She confesses herself that the 100 metres, where she has always bee overshadowed by Ingrid Labelle, has never been her thing. But she truly shines in the 200 metres, where she has a personal best of 25.54 (7 June 2003).
Having missed selection for the southern African Youth Championships, Laboudeuse was doubly motivated  to prove she was the best. This she did by improving her PB by nearly a second to gain the qualifying standard for Sherbrooke with her performance of 25.54. The adventure is just starting.

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