Nineteen-year-old sprinter Chavez Ageday hopes that his bronze medal in the 100m at the South American Under 23 Championships in Sao Paulo Brazil last weekend will finally make the stakeholders of track and field take him seriously.
Ageday registered his electronically-timed personal record 10.65 seconds in the final of the men’s 100m to secure his first medal at a major overseas competition. Speaking about his performance, the former Inter-Guiana Games sprint champion said that he was elated with his performance but was convinced that he could have done much better under different conditions.
“I feel great, the exposure was good and I gained a lot of experience from it… it’s just that the place was cold and I couldn’t really breathe properly at that altitude,” Ageday added.
The altitude in Sao Paolo Brazil, is 2559 feet above sea level, meaning that the concentration of oxygen will be significantly lower than it is in Guyana where the altitude in the Demerara/Mahaica region is about three feet.
The former Bygeval Secondary School student had placed third in his semi-final clocking 10.9s to gain a spot in the final. Ageday recounted that his semi-final was the toughest race of the meet for him as he was struggling to adjust to breathing at the altitude. Ageday said he got off to a terrible start where he basically stumbled out of his blocks but worked overtime to relinquish the deficit and gain a place in the final. Ageday also made it to the 200m finals where he placed sixth while Stephon James who placed third in the 400m, placed fifth.
Ageday’s coach Raymond Dauw said that his athlete has always displayed that stellar determination even in the face of local critics, injuries and disappointment from the national fraternity.
“By next year I’m looking to run about 10.1/10.2s but the main goal is running a sub nine time,” Ageday told Stabbroek Sport yesterday.
Against all odds
His hard work and persistence has finally paid off and Ageday said that the title of third fastest Under 23 athlete in the South Aemrican continent was now beginning to sink in. Ageday was the youngest of the contenders in his race.
Having to deal with the role as an underdog has become quite normal for Ageday, even after constant success on the local scene. Dauw recalled that his athlete got bad press on several occasions and officials of the national fraternity have, from time to time, questioned the legitimacy of his performances whenever he runs a fast time on local soil.
At the trials for the competition, Ageday clocked 10.5s seconds to qualify for the event and Dauw revealed that officials had questioned the accuracy of the time. Prior to his departure he validated his time with a resounding win against national sprint champion Rupert Perry at the Guyana Police Force Gymkhana two Sundays ago at the Eve Leary ground. Early last year, Ageday reportedly clocked 10.1 seconds but local officials quickly dismissed the validity of such an unbelievably quick performance.
But local acclaim is not Ageday’s only hindrance, in fact it is what he is least worried about. The major hindrance to Ageday’s development is facilities to train. Ageday is just about three tenths (.3s) of a second away from being eligible to compete at every major meet on the international scene (including the Olympic Games) yet he trains on the road.
Athletes, especially sprinters stay away from training on hard surfaces to prevent injuries such as shin splints, hamstring strains and varieties of ankle and knee injuries including tendonitis.
According to Dauw, Ageday trains on the Mahaica Public Road or sometimes on the Mahaica Bridge itself as that is their best option at the moment. For the past few years, this has been the problem since the Bygeval ground, according to Dauw, is constantly under water. Dauw added that this is one of the primary reasons why Ageday was not as successful in the 200m since he has very little practice running on turns.
Dauw, who lives in Mahaica and Ageday, who resides in Cane Grove, said that they have explored the possibility of travelling to other areas such as Enmore to use the track, but the cost and availability of transportation were not feasible for them to do so on a daily basis.
In spite of all the hurdles that Ageday had been and is still confronted with, Dauw said that they will remain determined and committed to reaching world class status in athletics. Dauw said that their goal is to ultimately excel at the 2016 Olympic Games but he does not see it becoming a reality without the help of corporate sponsorship to help alleviate Ageday from his current deplorable training conditions.
“We really need the assistance so he can train properly and maybe attend more competitions…Assistance from God knows where, but we been doing a lot of praying lately and we’ve seen the results so we will continue to have faith,” Dauw said.
The local coach said that he has approached the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) in the past but hopes that Ageday’s recent success is enough to jump start some initiative from the association to attend to his athlete’s cause. Dauw said he wished to thank the AAG for giving Ageday the fair chance to attend the competition after he ran the qualifying time at the trials, as well as the Hack Rice Mill in Cane Grove for its support.
