Bermudian athlete Akilah King won the 200 metres at the Ivy League Championships in Providence, Rhode Island to put herself on the brink of qualifying for July’s Pan-Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Brown University student broke the tape in a winning time of 24.0 seconds flat — a tenth of a second off the school record and two-tenths of a second off the Pan-Am qualifying mark.

King also placed an equally impressive second in the triple jump and fifth in the 100 metres to cap a superb all-round performance that qualified her for the upcoming NCAA Regional Track and Field Championships to be held in Gainesville, Florida in two weeks’ time — a track meet in which the former 400 metres state champion hopes to establish a new school record in the 200 metres and thus join sister Aranxta on the Island’s Pan-Am Games team.

“I just want to stay quick and get back in the weight room and work on my starts and do some other fine tuning because it’s really been a long season. Obviously I’m going to be competing in a bigger meet and so the girls there are going to push me a little faster. But I’m pretty confident,” the 21-year-old King said.

“The 200 metres record (23.9) is the one I’m looking for this year. And so hopefully I can qualify for the Pan-Am Games and also get the school record. And you just have to trust that your training is geared up for this meet and try and work on the little things and stay quick.”

Undoubtedly King’s strengths seem to lie in the sprints. But now she is also proving to be a force in the triple jump, training under the watchful eye of coach Jerome Romaine, a former triple jump world champion and training partner of Bermuda’s Brian Wellman.

“I’m fortunate to have such a world class coach as Jerome and it’s really been exciting,” the daughter of former Police and St.George’s Cup Match pacer Adrian King said.

“I just started jumping again this season. I used to jump in High School (Medford) but really haven’t done so since then. So I haven’t really jumped in the past three-years.”

King says she’d like nothing more than to join sister Arantxa on Bermuda’s Pan-Am Games team that will compete in South America in late July.

“It would be great if we both could compete at the Pan-Am Games,” she added. “So hopefully we can both qualify.”

Former world youth champion and CAC Games gold medallist Aranxta has already secured her spot on the Island’s Games team.

Although plagued by injuries earlier this year, Arantxa still represented Bermuda at the Carifta Games held in the Turks and Caicos Islands and will again be among the Island’s medal hopes in Brazil.