Olympic hopeful Shaquille Dill was less than two seconds outside the Olympic qualifying time of 1min 46sec in the 800 metres when he won his heat in 1:47.39 at the Princeton qualifier in New Jersey over the weekend.

Dill was competing at the event along with Dage Minors, another middle distance runner, as Lamont Marshall competed overseas in his hopes of reaching the qualifying mark before the July 11 deadline.

Dill was third overall, but still needs to shave a couple of seconds off his time in order to qualify for Rio this summer.

Minors placed fifth in his heat in a time of 1:50.70. Marshall placed eighth in the 3,000 metres steeplechase in a time of 9:11.32.

Dill, Minors and Chas Smith then competed in the Aileen Meagher event in Halifax, Canada, with Dill winning the 800 metres in a time of 1:48.24, while Minors finished eighth in 1:53.94.

Smith finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 14.90 metres.

“At this time we are not too concerned about the place, but more the times or distances that they reach as they are trying to reach qualifying standards,” said Donna Raynor, president of the Bermuda National Athletics Association.

“Shaquille and Dage will be competing in the Blue Marlin Last Chance Meet in Bahamas where we hope there will be some fast 800 metres runners so that they can be in some quick company and can be pulled through to the 1:46 to reach the standard.

“This will be the last chance to reach the standard as the qualifying date is July 11.”

The meet in Bahamas takes place July 10, an event that Kyle Webb will use as preparation for the North American Central American Caribbean Championships several days later. Webb is due to compete in the 200 and 400 at the meet in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Marshall has two more shots at hitting the qualifying standard for the 3,000 steeplechase; at the EAP Meeting in Bilbao, Spain, on Saturday, and then in Bahamas alongside Dill and the rest.