GBA grateful to stakeholders support in getting boxers home

Jul 26, 2020 Sports

Colin Lewis, Desmond Amsterdam, Dennis Thomas and Keevin Allicock; the four Guyanese boxers that departed for Cuba in January for a three-month training stint in preparations for the now postponed Tokyo Olympic qualifiers, finally arrived back home on Friday night.

Steve Ninvalle (2nd left) and the boxers after their return from Cuba Friday. (From left) Dennis Thomas, Colin Lewis, Keevin Allicock, Desmond Amsterdam and Terrence Poole.

The pugilists were stranded on the Spanish-speaking Island in excess of 100 days since travel protocols implemented worldwide saw airports being closed including Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan and Eugene Correira airports.
This was relaxed to allow certain special flights, but a special charter was needed to bring the stranded boxers home which the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) could not afford and appealed to the government and the Guyana Olympic Association for assistance.
Team Captain, Colin Lewis, in a correspondence to the media, noted that the boxers reached peak fitness and were developing well during their training stint in Cuba before the pandemic strike and he expressed gratitude to be back home and gave much thanks to the Government, the Guyana Olympic Association and all the stakeholders that played a part in getting his team back to the shores of Guyana.
Head of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle noted that, “We are extremely happy that they are finally back home, it has been a very long and frustrating haul for everyone involved. We would like to of course extend gratitude to the national sports commission, the Guyana Olympic Association, Ambassador Ivan Evelyn and everyone who supported even with words of encouragement. I hope that something like this never happens again.”
The boxers will have a week off in which they will be in self-quarantine after which they will be psychologically evaluated that will determine when they can resume training.

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