Aug. 28, 2003 — Adrian Durant, the top male sprinter in the Virgin Islands, and Valma Bass, a former Olympian, have ended a long season with solid finishes in the 9th World Championships in Paris.
Bass, a graduate of Charlotte Amalie High School and a competitor in the Sydney Olympics, finished 6th in her heat with a time of 24.16, short of her best-performance 23.65 for the year. Bass has an all-time best of 23.07 and was an outstanding sprinter for NCAA national champion Louisiana State University. She is making a comeback after taking more than a year off from competition.
For more on Bass's accomplishments this year, see the St. Thomas Source article, Federation builds strong women's track teams.
Durant was a walk-on athlete at the University of South Carolina, where he had an impressive indoor and outdoor season with a V.I. record in the 200-meters in the World Indoor Championship in Birmingham, England, in March and a Bronze Medal at the CARIFTA in Barbados in April.
He ran 21.11 in lane 8 in Paris Wednesday, and took 5th place in his preliminary round, just off his personal best of 20.89, which he ran earlier this summer.
"He is one of youngest sprinters in the competition and definitely has a great future," said Charles Golphin, Durant's coach from childhood and the V.I. coach in Paris.
Durant is the son of Celeste Durant of St. Croix and an honor student who has finished his sophomore year at USC.
For more on Durant's accomplishments this year, see the St. Croix Source article, Adrian Durant advances to Pan Am Junior finals.
Both athletes will continue to train in hopes of competing in the Athens Olympic Games next summer.
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