Two-time Olympian Winston George and Natrena Hooper were named the Senior Male and Female Athletes-of-the-Year for 2016.
The two copped the awards when the Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG) held their annual prize-giving ceremony Saturday night at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) building, Thomas Lands.
George gained the judges nod ahead of Rupert Perry after running 45.77s in the 400m at last year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20.64s in Trinidad over the 200m and 10.24s in the 100m at the local senior championship. George, the national 400m record holder, is currently campaigning on the US track and field circuit and was unable to attend the function.
Hooper was unavoidably absent also since she is currently on a scholarship in Jamaica. The track and field standout ran 24.22s in the 200m at the Hampton Games in Trinidad and recorded an eye popping 12.94m in the triple jump at the ISAACS and 12.0s in the 100m at the Senior Nationals. Sprint ace, Alita Moore took the runner up award for the female athlete-of-the-year.
Other winners at the elegantly casually dressed event included: Andrea Foster (best junior female athlete), Compton Caesar (best junior male), Daniel Williams (best youth male) and Chantoba Bright (best youth female).
Natricia Hooper, distance dynamo, Odwin Tudor, Tyrell Peters and track prodigy, Kenisha Phillips were the respective runners up behind the four winners.
Johnny Gravesande, who coaches Williams, Bright and others was named Coach-of-the-Year. During the event, AAG’s president, Aubrey Huston gave a brief overview of the year while President of the Guyana Olympic Association, K. Juman-Yassin and Director of Sport, Christopher Jones also made brief congratulatory remarks. (Emmerson Campbell)
