Rupert Perry who is currently Guyana’s fastest man believes that he can become a world class athlete but an athletics scholarship is the only ticket to his dream.
While Perry believes he can become world class he also views the stagnated state of athletics in Guyana as a major barrier to fulfilling his dream unless he attains a scholarship.
“Yep, I definitely can become a world class athlete once I keep running,” he said confidently in speaking to Stabroek Sport yesterday via telephone.
“To tell you the truth how athletics is going in Guyana it will take a while for any local athlete to reach international standards because it’s very hard but on my behalf I want to gain a scholarship so I can be exposed to synthetic tracks and athletes that compete on them while being educated,” he said.
The 21-year-old who started running at the secondary school level for Stewartville Secondary never took the sport seriously until 2009 after joining the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in 2008.
After six weeks of training for his first Joint Services sports in 2009, which was his first major meet, Perry suffered the anguish of defeat placing third in the men’s 100 metres but he finished second in the 200 metres.
“The defeats had me thinking a lot about track so that’s what gave me the motivation to come out and make my name in 2010,” Perry stated.
He then made his mark in athletics in 2010 by becoming the first man in Guyana to clock a sub-21 time of 20.80s as he broke the 200 metres Joint Services record.
Then this year Perry claimed the senior championship title in both the 100 and 200 metres. He also represented Guyana at the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our America (ALBA) Games in Venezuela and returned home to break the 100 and 200 metres Joint Services records which now stand at 10.1s and 20.3s respectively, his personal best times.
Perry’s only loss on home soil for 2011 came at the Police Sports Invitational 100 metres when Winston George defeated him.
However, with his dominant performances and fast times on home soil Perry is virtually unmatched, especially in the 100 metres. He said that it’s a great honour to be crowned the fastest man in Guyana.
“I’m really proud of myself on achieving such a great honour,” Perry told Stabroek Sport.
Now that his competitive year is over and the season is closed, Perry also reflected on the type of year 2011 was for him.
“It was great, I ran my personal best times in both my races so I could see myself going somewhere but I haven’t gained anything from athletics in Guyana as yet so I’m still waiting on my turn,” he commented.
Perry also expressed his hopes for the Olympics next year. “Next year I plan to focus more on my electronic times and once I could level my hand timings with my electronic times I think I have a shot of making international games such as the Olympics.”
Perry also stated that he thought the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) was doing their best to improve athletics in Guyana but for them to have a more significant impact they would need the support of the government.
Going into the 2012 season, Perry believes that the one thing that would move Guyana forward in athletics is an investment by the government so that the sport can develop and athletes can have a legitimate chance of improving.
