The Olympic Solidarity Scholarships that Guyanese and other athletes around the world benefit from was set to expire following the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, however due to the postponement of the Games as result of the pandemic, COVID-19, the scholarships will continue.
According to Treasurer of the Guyana Olympic Association, Garfield Wiltshire, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Solidarity Scholarships will run through the summer of 2021 when the Games will be staged.
Nine of Guyana’s athletes benefit from the scholarships. Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Troy Doris receives US$1000 monthly while the other eight receives half that amount.
The other local athletes are Track and Field standouts, Andrea Foster, Aliyah Abrams, Brenessa Thompson, Kadecia Baird and Winston George, ace table tennis players, Chelsea Edghill and Shemar Britton and badminton star, Narayan Ramdhani. The objective of the scholarships is to assist elite athletes selected and proposed by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in their preparation and qualification for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, with a particular focus on athletes and NOCs with the greatest needs. The Olympic scholarship programme offers NOCs the possibility to obtain financial and technical assistance for a limited number of elite athletes who are training, and attempting to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Note:Olympic Solidarity reserves the right to withdraw the scholarship from any athlete in the following cases:
• Non-qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games; • Decline of technical level; • Medical reason that prevents the athlete from training; • Unethical behaviour (doping, discipline, etc.); • Breach of the athlete/NF/NOC agreement or Olympic Charter; • Any other reason in mutual agreement with the NOC or the training centre.
As of yesterday, there are now more than 750,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with more than 37,000 deaths. Nearly every country has been impacted. The IOC and Tokyo organizers said they hope the decision to postpone will help the world heal from the pandemic.
