After hoisting three gold medals in the 35-39 years category at the recent North, Central and Caribbean World Masters Athletics (NCCWMA) in Costa Rica, sprint queen Alisha Fortune yesterday said that she was happy to be first to the tape.
However, what made the patriotic athlete truly proud was the rare instance in which Guyana’s national anthem was played while she was atop the podium draped in the colors of the Golden Arrowhead.
It is very rare that the national anthem is played at a global sporting event. When that happens,
know the athlete has done something outstanding.
“It was really overwhelming,” a smiling Fortune told Stabroek Sport yesterday.
The evergreen 39-year-old, who sprinted to victory in the 100, 200 and 400m events at the August 21-24 championships added that “being on the podium and hearing our national anthem playing was really special for me.”
At the meet which was a qualifier for the World Masters Championships in France next year, the mother of three clocked 12.12s, 24.55s and 58.3s (all meet records) to sweep the sprint events.
Next up on her to do list is mirroring her achievements in record setting fashion at the South American Masters Championship scheduled for November in Colombia.
Fortune said that her performance would not be possible without the help of her coach, Julian Edmonds and sponsors Giftland Office Max, Sanjay’s Jewellery, Ming’s Products and Services, Mohamed Enterprises, K. P Thomas and Sons, Millennium Travel Agency and the National Sports Commission.
She added that she still has an outstanding debt of $US1, 000 which was incurred by the sojourn and is open to receiving support to offset this. Fortune can be contacted on telephone number: 642-0615.
Notes: The NCCWMA 2014 Masters Track and Field Championship is a Regional International event recognized by World Masters Athletics.
It is an open event for athletes age 30 and up from any country of the world. (Emmerson Campbell)
