Paris Olympics 2024: Warren Lawrence nearly missed Olympic semi-finals

Dominica: Warren Lawrence, the national swimmer for Dominica nearly missed out for his qualifications in Semi Finals of Paris Summer Olympics 2024. Lawrence was set to compete in Men’s 50- meter freestyle category.

Lawrence was the first Dominican swimmer to compete in the Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games. He showcased great enthusiasm throughout the Olympics and was considered one of the highly competitive swimmers.

Lawrence in the qualifications round or the heat number 4 swan for a time of 24.67 seconds, and he was able to achieve 5^th place in one of the most competitive heats. It is to be noted that his performance at Olympics just left behind his personal best of 24.51 seconds, proving the intensity of Olympic competitions.

The heat was won by Thierry Bollin who is representing Switzerland. The player won the round by completing the race in just 22.95 seconds. Only 16 of the players qualified for the next round of Olympics.

In response to the incident the Dominican Olympic Community stated that, “Warren’s time of 24.67 seconds while it was good enough for a 5th in his heat, it meant that he finished 52nd overall out of the 73 other competitors.”

Notably, Lawrence participation was one which was highly anticipated as he is taking the legacy of his father over his shoulder. Lawrence’s father, Woodrow Lawrence commonly known as ‘Woody’, was also a Dominican Swimmer and represented the nation at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

On the other hand, the hopes for a medal in swimming are still on for Dominican Olympic fans as Jasmin Schofield, another Dominican swimmer is yet to compete in Women’s 50m freestyle category. Schofield will enter the Olympics pool on 3^rd August hoping for a medal to her nation.

Moreover, the biggest sports event is currently underway and several other Dominican players are yet to compete for their respective categories. Another player including Thea Lafond-Gadson (triple jump) and Dennick Luke (800m) will represent the nation in their separate games on 2^nd and 7^th August respectively.