Fifty of the country’s top junior athletes will go for glory today and tomorrow as the 42nd staging of the South American U-20 Championships will begin this morning at the National Track and Field Centre at Leonora.
Today’s opening day will see some 17 finals being contested with 12 on the track and five in the field.
Race walker, Tevin Nicholson will be the first Guyanese to compete today in the championships which makes its debut in the 592.
Some of Guyana’s medalists at the CARIFTA Games will also be in action today.
The morning session which starts at 06:30hrs with the 10k walk race, will also see preliminary-round action in the 100 and 400 metres, where the likes of CARIFTA Games gold medalist, Compton Caesar, Tyrell Peters, Daniel Williams, Kenishsa Phillips, Onasha Rogers and Avon Samuels 
are down to compete.
Standing in their way however, will be standout athletes from SA U-20 powerhouse, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Suriname, Ecuador and Chile.
Today’s second session will get under way at 17:00hrs with the men’s decathlon along with finals of the women’s 3000 metres. CARIFTA Games gold (3000m) and bronze (1500m) medalist, Claudrice McKoy will compete in that event. There will also be the finals of the marquee 100m events later in the evening. Caesar, McKoy and Samuels are expected to vie for medals. (Emmerson Campbell)
