James Gilkes

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Gilkes ( James Wren Gilkes; born September 21, 1952 ) is a former Guyanese sprinter .

As a student at Fisk University in Nashville, he became NCAA 220- yard champion in 1974 . In 1975 he moved to the University of Southern California . At the Pan American Games in Mexico City , he won the 200 m in 20.43 s with 0.26 s advantage over the American Larry Brown and was fourth in the 100 m . At the 1976 Olympic Games , Gilkes would have been a candidate for the finals after his position in the world rankings over 100 m and 200 m, but was not allowed to start because Guyana joined the Olympic boycott of the African states.

At the Commonwealth Games 1978 in Edmonton, Gilkes finished fourth over 100 m behind the Olympic champions Donald Quarrie , Allan Wells and Hasely Crawford , over 200 m he won silver behind Wells; In both races, the times were not recordable due to the strong wind support. In the same year, Gilkes set personal bests in regular wind conditions with 10.19 s and 20.14 s, which could not be beaten as Guyanese national records over 30 years.

In 1979 Gilkes took second place over 200 m at the Pan American Games in San Juan , 0.09 s behind the Cuban Silvio Leonard ; the times were not ripe for the best of the best because of the strong wind support. In 1980 Gilkes entered the Olympic Games in Moscow , but just missed the finals on both short sprint courses.

James Gilkes is 1.88 m tall and weighed 72 kg during his playing days.

Personal bests

  • 100 m: 10.19 s, September 12, 1978, Ingelheim am Rhein (former national record)
  • 200 m: 20.14 s, September 12, 1978, Ingelheim am Rhein (national record)
  • 400 m : 46.02 s, April 12, 1980, San José

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gilkes, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gilkes, James Wren (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Guyanese sprinter
DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1952