Three organizations, the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will be going all out to ensure that Guyana is well represented at track and field at this year’s London Olympic Games.
Olympic qualifier Winston George along with 100 and 200 metres sprinters Rupert Perry and Quinse Clarke will fly out this morning for a five-month training stint in Jamaica, it was disclosed yesterday.
George, a Policeman, qualified for the 2012 London Olympics with a ‘B’ class time of 45.84s at the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our Americas (ALBA) games last year in Venezuela.
It is hoped that the high performance training stint will assist in lowering his time in order for him to do well at the London Olympics.
Good performances last year by the GDF’s sprinting duo, Perry and Clarke, has resulted in them being given the opportunity to attend the training stint with the hope of them making the qualifying standard for the 100 and 200 metres during their five months in Jamaica.
At a press conference yesterday at Olympic House, High Street, the GOA, in collaboration with the GDF and GPF, announced that the athletes are expected to depart Guyana at 10:15 hrs today.
They are due to arrive in Jamaica at around 18:45 hrs.
The estimated cost per month to take care of the athletes while in Jamaica with the exclusion of their air fare and monthly allowance is US$1100.
The athletes will be provided with all the necessities for high performance sprinting at the centre including nutrition, medical treatment and high quality coaching.
It is also expected that, in order for them to transition smoothly to the type of training they will go through, they will undergo a thorough physical examination to ensure that their bodies can take the grind necessary for quality sprinting, president of the AAG, Colin Boyce told the media.
The athletes (mainly Perry and Clarke) will be able to participate in any meets sanctioned by the Jamaican Athletic Association in an effort to help them qualify for the Olympics.
The venture is the first of its kind and president of the GOA, KA Juman Yassin said that he expects the athletes to pay back in full with good performances. Yassin also congratulated Coach of the Police Athletic Club, Lyndon Wilson, for coaching George to the qualifying standard.
“I must take this opportunity to congratulate Wilson on being the first coach to coach George to the qualifying time.”
Yassin also told the athletes selected that.. “the opportunity is a mission for you to better yourselves and primarily your country, so you must remain committed to it… you will encounter the likes of Bolt (Usain Bolt) and Blake (Yohan Blake) but I charge you not to be scared of these elite athletes. It’s an expensive venture and we expect you to pay back in full with the bettering of your standards and good performances,” Yassin stated.
Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence Fraser and Boyce both wished the athletes well on their training stint and also urged them to remain focused on the task at hand which is to make their country proud by doing well and flying the Golden Arrowhead high.
Wilson, and coach of Perry and Clarke, Robert Chisholm, gave the three athletes some words of encouragement while stating that they expected nothing but the best from the talented sprinters.
George, Perry and Clarke reiterated that they will exert the maximum effort to make their country proud.
