What’s next for George and Baird?

Apr 23, 2014 Sports

By Rawle Welch
If the preformances of double gold medalist Cassie George and gold and silver medalist Kadecia Baird were not enough to evoke a more vociferous national conversation on the development of Sport then only heaven knows what will.
These two young athletes have just done Guyana proud by beating the mighty Jamaicans and the rest of the Caribbean in their respective events so by any measure they have done exceedingly well.
George, just as she had done last year remained a thorn in the flesh of the powerful Jamaicans, while Baird’s display this year was just as awesome, having evidently had the opportunity to prepare much better this time.
She too should have been a double gold medalist had it not been for an unfortunate fall just as she approached the finish line. The Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) has tried to get feedback from various stakeholders on their thoughts on Sport and how serious we are about its development.
While the entity must be commended for hosting such forums and have made a more authentic effort to assist more and more disciplines, the urgency must be to have a well prepared and structured Policy that has the input of all stakeholders.
Because the Government has the resources they must be encouraged to come on board and lead the way for the development of sport. Financially no other stakeholder could match their ability and while I’m not advocating that these resources are unlimited, there is enough in its coffers to make a real impact.
We have a glorious opportunity to produce two quality athletes, they are young and talented and all Guyana should come together and ensure that they do not suffer the same fate as our beloved track stars Aliann Pompey and Marian Burnett.
The team was expected to return last night and I’m hoping that they would have gotten a hero’s welcome with many of the important stakeholders in attendance since it sends a clear signal to our athletes that we care.
The team’s fourth place overall finish by this small contingent must be highlighted and because we continue to have encouraging returns every effort must be made to send a much larger group next year with early preparations being the key to success.
The Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG) to my mind wasted a few spots, especially when it was revealed that funds were scarce so it will have to do a better job of team selection to generate even better results.
This is not meant to discourage our hard working athletes, especially those in the sprinting category, but a real assessment and paying attention to what the other athletes’ times were would have allowed for a better team selection.
I was not privy to the decisions or criteria used to select the team, but in the absence of adequate funding, careful attention must be paid to those with the best possible chance of medaling.
Meanwhile, it would be interesting to know what’s next for both George and Baird.

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What’s next for George and Baird?

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