Roseau, Dominica: Warren Lawrence from Dominica have lost the chance to qualify for the semi-final of the Men’s 50-metre freestyle event at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on Thursday. He managed to secure 5th place and swam a time of 24.67 seconds in his heat.
With his participation, he became the first swimmer from Dominica to compete in the Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games. He also was not able to match his personal best of 24.51 seconds and lost the chance to become the first athlete from the country to reach the semi-finals in swimming.
Warren Lawrence is the son of Woodrow Woody Lawrence who represented Dominica in swimming at the 1996 Atlanta Games. In the game, he finished the game at the 52nd position overall out of the 73 other competitions.
The heat was won by Thierry Bollin of Switzerland as he swam in a time of 22.95 seconds and advanced to the semi-finals of the Olympic Games. After the game, Lawrence was greeted by family members and lauded for his performance.
In June 2023, he won a bronze medal in the 100m buttefly and his team won a gold medal in the 4×100 freestyle relay at the Swiss Regional Swimming Championships.
A 21-year-old athlete is the national record holder in 50m freestyle and made Olympic debut in 2024. He has also qualified for Universality Place and gained recognition in the athletic event.
Notably, Dominica has been represented by four athletes including two male and two females which marked the equal participation of the girls and boys in the games.
The first athlete called Thea Lafond Gadson will participate in the Triple Jump and she is the World Indoor Champion.
The second athlete is Jasmine Schofield who will participate in the 50m Freestyle and made her Olympic Debut.
The last athlete in the delegation was Dennick Luke who will participate in the 800m and remained national record holder in the event.
