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Former national athlete offers his thoughts on local Track & Field
Victor Benjamin
Immediately after making his opinion on the state of local cricket known, former national athlete and multiple times Masters gold medallist Victor Winston Churchill Benjamin gave his thoughts on local Track & Field, during an interview with Kaieteur Sport recently.
Benjamin, who currently resides in the USA where he has made it home since 1992, is back in the country of his birth on holiday and took the time to offer his views on the state of the sport and even attempted to compare his era with the present.
According to the former track star, Guyana’s athletes are suffering due to the lack of top class facilities which become crucial if an athlete is to reach the next level after leaving the junior ranks.
“Ever since my time, most of our athletes were on par with the rest of the Caribbean and I would go as far as saying that we held our own at the Junior Carifta Games, but when you graduate from that level, it is essential that the relevant facilities are in place to take you to the next level,” Benjamin said.
He pointed out that the difference was that the other countries had better facilities than ours and apart from that they also had more competitions than us so there was much bigger incentives for them to do well on a consistent basis, while the locals had no such luxuries and were left languishing even though they matched their counterparts not so long ago.
“In my time, we ran on grass tracks, but still managed to beat some of the best athletes in the Region, but the absence of regular Meets and good surfaces to run on never allowed our athletes to make the transformation from the junior ranks to the seniors and that in addition to the existing administrative and technical problems continue to hinder development in the sport.
He was also critical of the location of the synthetic track currently under construction, referring to it as a big blunder that will not serve the majority of athletes.
“I say this because you hardly find athletes of quality coming from those areas that surround the facility and coupled with the cost of transportation I can already see that it would be difficult for the cream of our athletes who reside mainly in Georgetown to benefit from its presence.”
Benjamin when quizzed as to where he felt was the most suitable location for the track, responded by saying that it should have been constructed somewhere in Georgetown, but went further to declare that even though the acquisition of such a facility is long overdue and welcomed, there is need for a few more to be constructed so that Guyana could be on par with the top performing countries within the Caribbean.
He added that another incentive for more tracks with quality is that a lot of talented Guyanese athletes are residing overseas and would like to come back and showcase their talent, but the absence of top class facilities have continually discouraged them from doing so.
He also spoke of a lack of a proper track & field programme which according to him is an annual one with no more than a one month rest period.
The former Army Officer and Physical Trainer disclosed that a more vibrant school programme needs to be implemented and as he did in the previous interview offered his service should the Athletic Association of Guyana / Government request it.
“If they call me I would be willing to offer my expertise, my experience is vast I have won medals all over the world, ran unbeaten at home for a long time, held many national records and the list goes on,” the multi talented former athlete said.
Benjamin’s achievements include 3 gold medals at the World Masters in Canada in 2005, 4 gold medals at the Pan Am Masters in Puerto Rico in 1980, 1 gold medal, 2 silvers and a bronze at the Pan Am Masters in Oregon, USA in 1984, 5 gold medals at the Pan Am Masters in Trinidad and Tobago among other outstanding performances.
He closed by stating that he has served this country with distinction without due recognition, but would gladly do it all over again.
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