Ferncourt hails Class Four athlete Rihanna Scott

Ferncourt High head coach Gregg Scott says the school community has hailed starlet Rihanna Scott after she placed third in the Class Four 100 metres final on Wednesday at the ISSA-GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships.

Rihanna claimed bronze in the final in 12.31 seconds behind winner Teixiera Johnson of Hydel High, 11.87, and silver medallist Mick-Kayla Gardener of Wolmer’s Girls, 12.27.

Following the race, Scott said Ferncourt High’s board chairman Thelma Johill called to congratulate Rihanna on her medal-winning performance, on behalf of the school’s community.

“The school chairman told me that the Ferncourt community is very proud of her and I should let her know they wish her all the best,” he said.

Rihanna was a title favourite heading into the final, and easily navigated her way to the medal round, winning both her preliminaries and semi-finals in times of 12.52 and 12.14, respectively.

However, she was uncharacteristically slow out of the blocks in the final and failed to hit her signature top speed throughout the race. She finished the race with an apparent injury, as she was visibly in pain as she crossed the line.

These injury concerns were heightened when Scott failed to report for her lane in the Class Four 200m heats.

Scott explained that Rihanna had felt a slight discomfort while in the blocks during the 100m final, and, as such, he felt it was in the athlete’s best interest to pull her out for the remainder of the championships.

BIG FUTURE

“She was absent from the 200m as a precaution, because she picked up a discomfort while coming out of the starting blocks during the 100m finals,” he said. “She’s feeling better, just a slight discomfort when she walks. So I have decided to pull her from the remainder of the championship. I told her that she’s young and she has a big future ahead of her, so I’m not going to take any chances,” Scott said.

Despite the injury, Rihanna is happy with her performance as the sprinter is proud of her first Champs medal in her debut season in high school.

“She’s very happy for her first bronze medal. She was very surprised when she heard that she finished third, because she said to me that she never put in much effort,” the coach said.