Athletics: New Mexico Don Kirby Invitational Meet |13 February 2024

Chetty listening to advice from coach Scott Williamson

Chetty improves 200m indoor record, sets 400m best time

Based in the United States of America, Natasha Bibi has broken her Seychelles’ 200m indoor record and established a 400m indoor best time over the weekend when competing in the New Mexico Don Kirby Invitational Meet.

Chetty stopped the clock at 24.99 seconds in the 200m race to finish first in her heat and 42nd out of 105 sprinters who were divided into 27 heats.

The time is faster than her previous record of 25.26 seconds set in an inter-school tournament which was held in Spokane, Washington where she was ranked 32nd out of 101 athletes.

Chetty, 23, then established a 400m indoor record for Seychelles when she clocked 58.52 seconds.

Speaking to Seychelles NATION, Natacha Chetty said: “I’m thrilled to have improved the 200m record, although I know I could have performed even better. Additionally, I’m proud to have set a new indoor 400m record, all in a single day. Surprisingly, I’ve never run a 400m before, not even in practice, but I was satisfied with my performance and believe I could improve with more training. This meet proved to be more challenging than the previous week’s, yet overall, it was a satisfying experience.”

Coached by Scott Williamson, Chetty is studying accounting on a full scholarship at the University of Nevada Reno in the United States of America.

Chetty is using the sprints events to get back in shape after she was injured last season and missed a number of international competitions including the Indian Ocean Islands Games in Madagascar.

Before picking up the injury last year, Chetty excelled on the second day of the Mountain West Indoor Championships, clinching the gold in the high jump with her mark of 1.76 metres, earning the seventh-best mark in Nevada school history and a new personal record.

Weeks earlier at the Texas Tech Open competition, she has cleared a height of 1.75m to improve her previous record of 1.61m set at the Spokane Invitational in December 2022.

Chetty’s international achievements include two gold medals at the 2019 Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) in Mauritius; a silver medal at African Championships, also in 2019, earning her the female athlete of the year title.

Gerard Govinden