By Treiston Joseph
Aliann Pompey is moving on.
Pompey is putting behind her the disappointment she has endured after a medal winning year for Guyana on the athletics circuit and focussing on upcoming international competitions.
“Well, I’m focusing on this year’s Pan American Games where I want to medal and at the World Championships where I want to make the finals anything can happen from there,” she said at a press conference she held last Friday with Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) president K. Juman Yassin.
The Commonwealth Games double medal winner is also eyeing participation at the London Olympic Games next year.
“Next year I foresee 2012 Olympics as my last not necessarily as the end of my track career though, it will also be different from the rest seeing that it might be my last and that I have been improving my times in the last three years,” she added.
In the build up to London 2012, Pompey wants to
Spend enough time there prior to the Olympics getting acclimatized.
‘Mainly I want to spend more time in London competing so I can get adjusted to the climate there since it’s different to most places that I have been,” she explained.
She also wants to give something back at the end of her career.
“It would be a travesty if I didn’t come back and do something. I gained a Level One coaching certificate and also worked with a lot of young people, so I would definitely look forward to giving back to my country and probably be known as the person that changed the state of athletics,” she opined.
She will, though be remembered for a number of things among them being the first Guyanese to make it to a World Championship finals last year, while also being the first athlete to win a gold medal for Guyana at the commonwealth games in 2002 and following up the performance with silver medal at last year’s edition of the event making her the only Guyanese to have won two medals from the games,.
She also gained silver at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in July of last year.
While the main purpose of Pompey’s return to the land of her birth after three years was to be the recipient of the National Sports Commission’s (NSC) runner-up Sportswoman of the Year award, Pompey will be unable to receive that particular accolade as the event will be held on March 4 while Pompey is expected to depart Guyana on March 1.
Yassin explained at the Press conference that it is disappointing that she would not be here for the awards.
He also informed that four athletes including Pompey have qualified for assistance from Olympic Solidarity.
The other athletes are Jessica Stephenson, Adam Harris and Adrian Spelling.
“The athletes would be paid $1000 USD as part of the Olympic Solidarity fund per month until the 2012 London Olympics while they also can spend up to $5000 USD in traveling to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, the athletes would also need to send a report every four months to the GOA to see their progress in training and competitions and failing to comply with this could result in termination of that scholarship,” explained Yassin.
Pompey said despite the setbacks she was determined to come home for the award ceremony.
“Staying and probably feeling sorry for myself would not have changed anything and I really wanted to say my performances last year were not only historic for me but for Guyana and I really wanted to express that not taking anything away from Alfred and her achievements and could have been used for better publication of the sport.”
Pompey who works two jobs and trains at the same time could not extend her time to stay for the awards and will return to the United States of America tomorrow but will have a talk with young aspiring athletes today at the Police Sports Ground, Eve Leary at 16:30 hrs.
