President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) Steve Ninvalle and Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Aubrey Hutson yesterday weighed in on the Olympic Games in Tokyo which International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound said yesterday would be postponed. Said Ninvalle whose association has four boxers preparing for the Games, “If you ask for my personal view, then I don’t think the Olympics will be held as scheduled this year. There is just too much chaos around the world and while some are recovering, others are only now being affected and, in some cases devastated. Canada and Australia have already withdrawn. Italy and Spain are on their knees as it relates to the Coronavirus. The USA is ambivalent at the moment. The Guyana Boxing Association will be guided by several inputs in order to come up with a decision on if to send a team or not. We have a close relationship with Guyana Olympic Association and will continue to have discussions with them relating to if, when and how,” Ninvalle said before the IOC announced their decision yesterday.
Hutson said yesterday in an invited comment that Guyana should put the health of their athletes first.
“I guess at some point, the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) will come to a decision on that and I guess it will be after discussions with the various associations. However, similar discussions are ongoing with the World Athletics on whether or not Track and Field as a sports discipline should be part of the Olympics in 2020. Guyana shares the opinion that we should really and truly put the health and safety of the athletes first and not risk the athletes unless we are 100% positive that the COVID-19 pandemic has been totally eradicated.”
He added:”Also what is creating problems for us is how prepared our athletes will be, what systems will be put in place to select our athletes to go to the Games. So all of these scenarios are being examined. The hurdle right now is selecting the right athletes for every member federation and it being a fair and open process is proving to be difficult. I guess Lord Sebastien Coe (President of World Athletics) will make an announcement on the situation sooner than later.”
