The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) yesterday declared the recent exploits of their Under-23 national team which participated at the just-concluded South American Under-23 championships a success.
The event was a press conference held at the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) head office yesterday.
The four-member team of 200 and 400 metres junior champion Stephan James, 100 metres junior champion Chavez Ageday, long jumper Cindy Fraser and 400 metres and triple jump athlete Natrena Hooper copped two bronze medals at the games.
Fraser and Hooper had their first crack at international competition while seasoned campaigners Ageday and James, claimed a bronze medal each.
James ran a personal best and a junior national 400 metres record to claim the bronze in 46.65s while Ageday ran a personal best time of 10.65s in the men’s 100 metres to claim bronze as well.
General Secretary for the AAG, Claude Blackmore, who accompanied the team to Brazil as the manager deemed the team performance commendable at the press conference yesterday.
“First I must say that at the post congress Guyana was lauded for the amount of athletes that participated at the event. However, the athletes did not get a chance to acclimatize and use the track because we got in late but I think the team that we sent did us proud and it is an extremely commendable performance,” Blackmore told media representatives present.
President of the AAG Colin Boyce, who was also present expressed his disappointment with the government for not honoring their commitment to releasing funds after stating their plans for the ‘Road to Brazil’ campaign which seemingly caused Guyana a third medal as two time 1500 metres CARIFTA gold medalist had to be left off of the team due to the lack of funding.
“The team was to originally have five members but due to the lack of funding Straker had to be left off and I hope that with the results of the team that the government will be forthcoming with the funds after we submitted our budget as they requested in a timely manner.
“It’s unfortunate for Straker especially now, since looking at the time in Brazil, Straker could have definitely gotten a third medal for Guyana… I just hope that the performances open the eyes of the government since these athletes are the future if they are serious about the road to Brazil,” Boyce commented.
Stabroek Sport also spoke to the athletes on their experience with the higher altitude.
“It was really tough for me going home in the 400 because that’s the part of the race when you need the most oxygen and it wasn’t there,” said James.
“After the race I had a headache and felt like I could have fainted and Ageday was there to help me out but it was tough,” James added.
Ageday, who also took bronze in his 100 metres event after a heat that ranked him as one of the slowest qualifiers, recalled his experience in Brazil.
“It was tough for me especially out of the blocks after my drive phase where you take in another breath to go, air wasn’t there and it ended up being tough driving home in the finals.
“Also, in the heats, the gun had a problem giving off a double sound because it was not connected to blocks properly and my reaction was not there,” Ageday added.
The two rookies on the team on the team Fraser and Hooper also had problems of their own.
Hooper recalled that parts of her body that never used to hurt in a 400 metres started to hurt while Fraser mentioned that there wasn’t air for her to breathe when approaching the jumping board. Boyce said that in future plans will be put in place for these athletes to at least get a week to train even if the games village for the said event is not open.
“We recognize the need for our athletes to get acclimatized for these meets and plans will be looked at in the future to get the athletes to spend at least week in the country to get acclimatized even if the games village for the meet is not open,” Boyce promised.
With the South American Under-23 games over, attention will now turn to the Inter Guiana Games.
The trials for athletics will be held on October 14 for the meet which will be held in French Guiana from November 9-12.
