Liberia: Ebony Morrison Sets National Record at World Indoor Championships
The 27-year-old was the best performing female African hurdler as she ended up finishing 13th in a field of 24 competitors according to the overall rankings.
Liberia’s lone female representative to the 2022 World Indoor Championships, Ebony Morrision, set a new national indoor record in the women’s 60m hurdles on Saturday at the Stark Arena when she finished in 8.07 seconds in the semifinals.
Although the record finish time did not earn Morrision a slot in the final, the 27-year-old was the best performing female African hurdler as she ended up finishing 13th in a field of 24 competitors according to the overall rankings.
Morrison earlier set the national indoor record when she qualified for the semifinals after clocking 8.09 seconds in the qualifying heats. She later went on to break the national record for the second time in the semifinals, finishing in less than 0.2 seconds.
Over 670 athletes from 137 teams were present in Belgrade, Serbia for the global indoor event.
Morrision’s compatriot, Wellington Zaza, who booked his place in the 2022 Indoor Championships by clocking 7.69 in the men's 60m hurdles, tying the national record held by Sultan Tucker since 2001, had an unfortunate race in the qualifying heats.
Zaza, 27, clocked 7.80 seconds in heat 6, finishing in the 7th position out of eight competitors. Sprinter Emmanuel Matadi, who was due to compete in the men’s 60m, did not participate after he was tested positive for COVID-19, GoTeamLiberia reported.
The trio, along with Liberia’s first-ever Olympic finalist, Joseph Fahnbulleh will now use the coming months to prepare for the upcoming IAAF Outdoor Championships which will take place in the United States for the first time from July 15–24, 2022.