Funding for seven athletes and two officials to attend the South America Championships in Ecuador will be covered by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA).
Those and other details were disclosed at the association’s headquarters at Liliendaal yesterday
The championships, which were last staged in Peru in 2019, will be held from May 28 to 30 after initial host, Argentina, pulled out due to a surge in cases of COVID-19.
Aubrey Hutson, President of the Athletic Association of Guyana (GOA) had made an appeal to the GOA, the government and the private sector for funding ahead of the event. Following a fruitful and ‘frank’ meeting with the GOA, the decision was made by the K.A. Juman-Yassin led body to fund te airfare of seven athletes and two officials for the all important meet that could possibly be the last chance for Olympic qualification.
Currently, Aliyah Abrams is the only athlete that has qualified for the Olympics, a feat she secured since 2019, so she will not be heading to
the championships. Her sister, Jasmine Abrams, who is ranked number one in the 100m in South America, will be one of the favourites to earn the gold medal.
Jasmine, along with Andrea Foster (S.A. 800m women’s top seed), Winston George, Emanuel Archibald, Quamel Prince, Noelex Holder and Jeremy Bascombe are the athletes whose airfare are being blanketed by the GOA while the officials are Johnny Gravesande as coach and Kenisha Headley as Team Manager/Assistant Coach.
The AAG will fund the airfare of Arinze Chance while the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will purchase the ticket of high jumper Mark Jhalu who has been outstanding.
From the nine confirmed athletes, the AAG has confirmed that Guyana will be able to field a 4x100m team.
Following heartfelt remarks of gratitude to the GOA for their support, Hutson stated that the association is yet to hear from Ministry of Sport and with two athletes still on the shortlist in Jenea McCammon and Devaughn Barrington, the AAG would appreciate added financial assistance from the State.
