Track and Field had perfect momentum in 2010

Dec 24, 2010 Sports

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-Pompey, synthetic facility among major highlights

By Edison Jefford
Local track and field gained excellent support and momentum this year, which among the superb performance of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) will most likely position the national association for the ‘Sport Association of the Year’ Award.
Apart from Cleveland Forde’s dominance at IAAF South American 10km Road Race Classic, an unprecedented number of athletes represented Guyana at various overseas engagements with the two females, Jevina Straker and Aliann Pompey excelling.
Straker won her second CARIFTA Games gold medal in the 1500m Girls U-17 race. Straker was among a team of seven athletes, who competed at the Games, which was held during April 3-5 in the Cayman Islands. She was the only Guyanese medalist.
Pompey won her second Commonwealth Games medal in the 400m Women race to become the only Guyanese athlete with two meet medals. Pompey’s silver medal performance in Delhi, India was the high-point for Guyana at the blue-ribbon Games.
Pompey had won gold in Manchester, England. She became the only Guyanese athlete with two Commonwealth Games medals and will certainly be among the nominees, like junior Straker, for the ‘Senior Sportswoman of the Year’ Award this year.
In other international competitions this year, a team of 24 athletes and three officials represented Guyana at the Inter Guiana Games (IGG) that was held in French Guiana March 27-28. The local team surrendered a title it had held for several years.
Guyana had always won track and field at IGG, but because the CARIFTA Games was only days apart, the AAG kept back some of its top athletes for Cayman Islands. The chance of sending the under-strength team to French Guiana backfired badly.
Continuing to maintain its momentum on the international circuit, eight athletes competed at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games with Pompey getting a silver medal in the 400m, Marian Burnett getting bronze and Forde bronze in the 5000m.
Burnett developed a breathing problem at the CAC Games, which kept her out of the Delhi, India Commonwealth Games. The stalwart subsequently mulled retirement from track and field. She is still to officially announce her position as it relates to that development.
Pompey also competed at the World Indoor Championships in Qatar, March 12-14 while sprinter Chavez Ageday made his international debut at the World Junior Championships in Canada, July 19-25 following his emergence on the local scene last year.
Ageday and Straker represented Guyana at the World Youth Olympics in Singapore in the center of August while Straker competed at the South American Youth Championships in Chile through October 9-10 before the season moved to the 10km road races.
One of the features that AAG President, Colin Boyce, has brought to his administration is athlete participation in as much international meets as possible. Boyce had stated earlier this year that he is prepared to expose national teams providing funds are available.
Forde won the opening leg of the South American 10km race in Guyana, then the second stage in Suriname before stumbling at the final stage in panama. Forde, who has dominated the race since its inception, had never won all three stages of the IAAF event.
Domestically, the association hosted the Cross Country Championships at Kuru Kuru on January 24; the IGG Trials at Enmore Community Centre Ground on February 7; Carifta Games Trials at the Police Sports Club Ground, Eve Leary in March.
The national Under 23 Championships at the Police Sports Club; the President/Jefford Track and Field Classic and Ainlim 10km Road Race were two of the events that received excellent support from the corporate community, which was connected to athletics.
The AAG hosted the National Youth/Junior/Senior Championships at Police Sports Club; Police Annual Athletics Championships; the Guyana Defence Force Athletics Championships and Inter-Services Championships were all sanctioned track and field meets.
Track and Field in Guyana was piloted in the right direction with the advent of Phase One of the Synthetic Track and Field Facility, which is set to commence at Leonora after the Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited was awarded the contract.
Phase One of the facility includes land preparation, construction of the foundation for the facility and raising the land to the desired level for laying the track that will be imported. The contract is worth some $125M for the completion of the preparatory works.
The track and field facility will be constructed on a 45-acre plot of land that formerly housed the Leonora Cricket Ground. Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony had stated in his budget presentation earlier this year that the facility is the ministry’s “flagship” sport project.
Guyana’s first synthetic athletic facility was included in the budgeted amount of $392,500,000M for four areas. The Engineers Estimate for Phase One of the synthetic track and field project was $145M, and Courtney Benn’s bid was submitted at $124, 960, 227M.
In 2010, Guyana moved much closer to getting its first synthetic track, which is expected to level the playing field with local athletes being able to prepare and compete on a surface that is similar to their international counter-parts. Among the advantages of having the facility, is the fact that Guyana will also be able to host international meets.
Anthony had indicated at the handing over of the contract earlier this month that the ministry will be working closely with the AAG since it is that association that will benefit from the facility. He said that such a facility is long-overdue and timely in Guyana.

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