Saint-Denis, France – A day after becoming the first person to advance to an Olympic final from St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Arkansas alum Shafiqua Maloney came within 0.24 of a second in claiming her country’s first Olympic medal.
A time of 1:57.66 by Maloney placed her fourth in the Paris Olympic 800m final with the bronze medal position claimed in 1:57.42 by Kenya’s Mary Moraa, the 2023 World champion.
“Definitely it’s a once in a lifetime experience,” stated Maloney. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next four years. In the Tokyo Olympics, I didn’t make it out of the heats. So, now to make the final and finish fourth I have to be thankful for that.
“Of course I wanted a medal, that would have been the icing on the cake with all that I went through. It just didn’t happen, but that’s ok. I’m definitely hungry for more. I know I can definitely run faster and there’s a lot to look forward to.”
Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain won the race in 1:56.72 with Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma securing silver in a career best of 1:57.15. Hodgkinson earned a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics and collected a pair of silver medals in the past two World Championships.
Maloney posted the top finish by a Caribbean athlete since a silver medal in 1996 by Cuba’s Ana Quirós. Since the Atlanta Olympics, Caribbean athletes placed sixth twice – in 2000 with Cuba’s Zulia Calatayud and in 2008 with Jamaica’s Kenia Sinclair.
“I did the best I could, but it wasn’t a perfect race,” noted Maloney. “That was the outcome, but I’m thankful and I’m healthy. I still have opportunities to race this year.
“I was trying to get out wide on the homestretch, but I still got boxed in. I was trying for the longest to get out and just move. When I saw a clearing then I made my move. It wasn’t enough. It was an experience and I learned a lot as always. I’ll definitely be taking it forward.”
Finishing behind Maloney in the 800m final were Renelle Lamote of France (1:58.19), Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele (1:58.28), American Juliette Whittaker (1:58.50) and South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso (1:58.79).
Whittaker, who competes at Stanford, is the sister of incoming Razorback Isabelle Whittaker, who is also on Team USA in the 4 x 400m relay pool.
Splits for Maloney include 58.7 at 400m, where she was in fifth place, and 1:28.6 at 600m, where she remained in fifth. Over the final 200m, Maloney covered the pair of 100m splits in 14.4 and 14.8 in the process of moving into fourth place.
In the semifinal of the women’s 200m, Brittany Brown won the third and final heat in 22.23 over Great Britain’s Daryll Neita (22.24). Brown’s time in advancing to the final ranked fourth overall.
Gabby Thomas led the field with a 21.86, followed by Olympic 100m gold medalist Julien Alfred of St. Lucia with a 21.98. Nigeria’s Favor Ofili, runner-up to Alfred, posted a 22.05.
The 200m final will be the last event on Tuesday evening.
Also competing on Tuesday, in the morning session, are Nikki Hiltz in the prelims of the 1,500m, Tara Davis-Woodhall in long jump qualifying.
The evening session includes Chris Bailey in the 400m semifinal, Anna Cockrell in the 400m hurdles semifinal, along with the long jump final for Wayne Pinnock and Carey McLeod.
