CARIFTA Games team in limbo

Apr 07, 2023 Sports

– AAG working overtime to find flights to The Bahamas for 16 team members

By Rawle Toney

Kaieteur News – The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) is now keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that 16 members of their contingent can leave Guyana today for the Bahamas, where the country will compete at the 50th edition of the CARIFTA Games, set for April 7 – 10.

AAG president, Aubrey Hutson

Guyana’s Attoya Harvey crossing the finish line at the 2022 CARIFTA Games to win the Girls U20 1500m.

Aubrey Hutson, AAG’s president, told Kaieteur News seven athletes and one official departed Guyana, Jamaica and the US yesterday, while the others were scheduled to travel to Antigua to connect with a charter for The Bahamas.

Among the athletes in Guyana are Attoya Harvey, Narissa McPherson (400m, 800m), Javon Roberts (800m, 1500m) Tianna Springer (200m, 400m, 4×100) and (Ezekiel Newton 100m and 200m).

Harvey grabbed three medals year, winning gold in the 1500m, silver in the 3000m, and bronze in the 800m, while Springer and Newton are two of the country’s brightest sprinting prospects.

“The athletes and one coach left Guyana through the US because they had a visa, and the others we had to book through the Caribbean,” Hutson explained.

The breakdown, however, Hutson said, happened at the travel agency after receiving the exemption on taxes on the tickets from Government.

Tianna Springer is one of Guyana’s medal hopefuls at the CARIFTA Games (Emmerson Campbell photo)

Hutson said the flight was overbooked and could not have accommodated all the remaining athletes, putting the AAG in an uncomfortable position since they now have to find alternative routes.

Ezekiel Newton will be looking to add CARIFTA Gold to his growing list of track and field accomplishments.

When Kaieteur News visited the AAG’s office in Alberttown, parents and athletes all gathered hoping for positive news.

The team’s manager, Keith Campbell, explained that they will leave Guyana today for Cuba, where they will then take a charter to the Bahamas.

Hutson said the AAG is working overtime to ensure the athletes arrive in time for their events, where the country is expected to medal in several events.

Hutson is adamant that funding is not the issue this year, with the AAG being able to secure the approximately $9M needed.

National Javelin record holder Anisha Gibbons, who’s based in the USA and competing on the collegiate circuit is en-route to the Bahamas, where she will have a chance to secure a third consecutive gold at the Caribbean’s most prestigious track and field event.

Gibbons claimed gold at the 2022 CARFITA Games, her second at the Championships, following her first Javelin Gold in 2021.

Athaleyah Hinckson (100m, 200m, 400m) will join sprinting sensation and medal hopeful Tianna Springer, Tamara Harvey (long jump, 4x100m), and Adessa Albert (100m, 4x100m).

Malachi Austin (200m, 400m), Ezekiel Saul (triple jump, high jump), Duel Europe (long jump), and Immanuel Adams (high jump) are the U17 boys’ athletes heading to The Bahamas.

US-based Wesley Noble Jr (400m), and Seon Booker, based in Jamaica, will run 800m and 1500m, while Odida Parkinson (5000m), Trevon Hamer (long jump) and Omar James (long and triple jumps) are the other athletes for Guyana.

Mark Scott, Keisha Burnett, and Linden Phillips are the coaches while Keith Campbell will serve as the Team’s Manager.

At the 2022 games in Jamaica, Guyana ended their participation with seven medals– two gold, three silver, and two bronze – while finishing fifth in the medal standings behind Trinidad and Tobago (23), British Virgin Islands (7), The Bahamas (17) and Jamaica (92).

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Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson, Bahamas, CARIFTA, Ezekiel Newton

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