The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) will host its annual awards ceremony tonight for the most outstanding athletes during 2011 at the Young Men’s Christian Association Building (YMCA) from 19:00hrs.
The ceremony will honour the most outstanding athletes during the past year for their performances, whether local or international.
The categories normally up for grabs at the annual event are senior male and female athlete-of-the-year, junior male and female athlete-of-the-year and coach- of-the-year.
In the male senior category it will be a battle among the current athletes of the year Cleveland Forde, 400 metres specialist Winston George and senior sprint champion Rupert Perry.
Forde has had his usual success dominating 10k events while proving he is just as good on the track with various victories.
George, on the other hand, has made a viable case for the top honour by being the only locally-based athlete to qualify for the Olympics while being the only locally-based quarter miler to run 45.01s internationally. Perry can also be considered for the award as he suffered only one defeat to George locally, while breaking both the 100 and 200 metres record at the Joint Services Sports last year as the records now stand at 10.2s and 20.1s respectively.
In the end, however, George is expected to run away with this award.
The female senior award could pose some problems for the selection panel of the AAG.
Current athlete-of-the-year Natasha Alder has proven herself most versatile in field events again this year by dominating the Joint Service Sports last year where she claimed a field quartet with wins in the long and triple jumps while throwing away the javelin and the discus. There is also overseas-based athlete Aliann Pompey who was believed to be deserving of the award last year, especially since she became the only Guyanese in history to reach a World Championship final (Indoors) in 2010 while running away with Commonwealth silver in 2010 as well.
Pompey provided Guyana with a spectacular 200 metres run on home soil last year in Linden and while she was hampered by injury (Achilles tendon) she represented Guyana well at international events such as the Pan American and World Games (Outdoors).
Then there is the ever consistent Alika Morgan who has done well in various 10ks only to be defeated on home soil twice by overseas-based athlete Eulene Josiah who is also in the reckoning.
However, Alder is strongly tipped to once again secure this award when the night concludes.
The male junior athlete-of-the-year category, should be an easy one for the AAG as 400 metres specialist Stephan James is by far the top contender for this award hands down.
The 18-year-old has created history while running the 400 metres by being the first Guyanese to make a junior Pan American final while being the first male Guyanese to medal at the South American Junior championships with bronze in the 400 metres. In addition to his 200 and 400 metres gold medals at the Inter- Guiana Games along with a near miss on the medal stand at Carifta Games last year when he finished fourth in the 400 metres James is a strong favourite.
There is also long distance prodigy Nathaniel Giddings who made a name for himself last year by placing among the seniors in 10ks, defeating stalwarts such as Lionel D’Andre, Dennis Horatio and Cleveland Thomas. The talented athlete also took gold in the 5000 metres at the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG).
Chavez Ageday who is the current junior athlete-of-the-year could pose a slight threat with his 100 metres gold at the IGG but should make way for James to take the honour this time around.
Turning attention to the female version of the award, the AAG will have their hands full yet again as this will be a hard one to judge.
Tiffany Carto performed well in the early part of the season but then faded away later as Letitia Myles took over claiming IGG silver in both the 100 and 200 metres while claiming a sprint triple at the Schools Nationals.
Current female junior athlete-of-the-year Jevina Straker had her most unimpressive year thus far and might probably lose out on the award this time around. However, the 13-year-old Jevina Sampson could be the most fitting for the award as she performed consistently well during the early part of the year, before turning it up a notch to claim gold in the 400 metres at IGG while taking a sprint triple at the Schools Nationals in the under-14 category.
Sampson is expected to take this award but it’s still a tough call for the AAG. Meanwhile the coach-of-the-year award could be the most difficult for the AAG as three coaches stand out in this category.
There is Julian Edmonds of the Running Brave who coached Stephan James to his historic year while coaching Sampson to be the youngest gold medalist at IGG for Guyana.
Robert Chisholm of the Guyana Defence Force is also in the mix as he coached GDF to a one point win over their arch rivals Police at the annual Joint Services Sport while having Guyana’s most powerful male sprinting attack in Rupert Perry and Quinse Clarke.
There is also current coach-of-the- year Lyndon Wilson who coached police to a narrow one point loss to GDF while coaching Guyana’s most successful locally-based athlete in Winston George who has qualified for the 2012 Olympics.
This is definitely a hard one to judge as the athletics fraternity here awaits the award ceremony of the AAG tonight.
