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Johnson returns for AAG trials
– hails Trinidad tour a success
Kelvin Johnson
By Edison Jefford
One of Guyana’s leading distance athletes, Kelvin Johnson stated that his experiences in Trinidad and Tobago were “good” after he returned from the island yesterday.
Speaking to Kaieteur Sport after his arrival, Johnson said that while he did not miss any meets in Guyana, Claude Blackmore cannot shoulder all the blame for the absence of more competitions for athletes.
“I didn’t miss anything at all at home. People like to blame Blackmore but Neil Kumar and everybody else has to be blamed. You can’t blame Blackmore for everything,” Johnson contended.
From his nine races in the Twin Island Republic, the top distance runner won three, got three second place finishes, two third places and one fourth place. So of the nine races, Johnson had eight podium finishes.
“I think that any athlete that wants to reach the highest level here is impossible. Look at where Marian [Burnett] is and she was an ordinary athlete just like me. Anybody does well when they leave here,” he posited.
The seasoned campaigner is also of the view that the Athletics Association of Guyana [AAG] does not select the right athletes for scholarships. He said that some athletes that have been working hard over the years may never get a scholarship opportunity.
“They [the AAG] don’t look for people who really like winning and competing. They don’t look at our discipline over the years,” Johnson held, adding that the athletes the AAG sends often fails to become good ambassadors.
According to Johnson, athletes like Burnett, who he believes went overseas independently, always do better than those that have gone through the AAG system. He made the claim for himself and others like Rawle Greene.
“The people that they [the AAG] sent, you don’t hear anything about them,” the athlete opined.
Johnson will be preparing for AAG 10k trials on October 11 for the first leg of the South American 10k in Suriname. He said that his other “big race” for the year is the University of the West Indies half marathon on November 2.
Johnson and Lionel D’Andrade spent several months in Trinidad training and competing. D’Andrade is due to return to Guyana next weekend. He will also take part in the AAG trials and marquee South American 10k race.
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