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Local HPTC depends on completion of synthetic track
-says Guyana Olympic Association President
By Edison Jefford
The establishment of an International Association of Athletics Federations 
(IAAF)-ratified High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) in Guyana significantly depends on the completion of the Synthetic Track and Field Facility that is under construction at Leonora.
This is according to President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), K. A. Juman Yassin, who was addressing the media earlier this week prior to the departure of three sprinters for stints at the IAAF HPTC at the University of Technology in Jamaica.
Kaieteur Sport asked Yassin if there are any immediate plans to establish a local HPTC given the high costs associated with sending athletes to foreign centres. The Olympic association President stopped one breath short of calling on Government to complete the facility.
“Well that depends on when the synthetic track is completed. That is one of the areas that we are sadly behind on,” Yassin indicated, adding that another area of concern for him is the formation of a Sports Medicine Lab where local athletes will be able to access.
Yassin held the view that those two areas, the absence of a local HPTC and Sports Medicine Lab are features that will continue to set back sports in Guyana if not remedied urgently. Government began works on Phase I of the synthetic track last year. It was noted that without such facilities it is difficult to attract the necessary ratifications for international standards here.
Sprinters Quinse Clark, Rupert Perry and Winston George departed Guyana earlier this week for an unprecedented five-month training initiative that the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) facilitated with support from the GOA, Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and Guyana Police Force.
It will cost the various stakeholders involved in the initiative some US$1100 per month for each of the athlete to be facilitated at the HPTC in Jamaica. The fee is minus their airfare costs and per diem. The initiative was described as a multi-million dollar investment.
George’s stint is primarily aimed at him continuing his preparations for the Olympics under good conditions. He qualified for the 400m for the upcoming Games under the ‘B’ Standards. Clarke and Perry are seeking Olympic berths with chances likely to improve at the Centre.
July 17 is the last day for qualification for the London Olympics. The opportunity for Clarke and Perry to be part of the prestigious HPTC in Jamaica was an expression of the AAG’s confidence in them achieving either the 100m or 200m qualifying times.
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