Middle distance maestro, Attoya Harvey provided a reminder of her pedigree yesterday, recording two gold medal performances to headline Guyana’s dominance on opening day of Inter Guiana Games (IGG) track and field action at the National Track and Field Centre.
Harvey, a multiple CARIFTA Games medalist, was a class above her Surinamese and French Guianese counterparts, soloing to emphatic victories in the 1500m and 3000m races.
The 16 year-old clocked 5:14.66s in the 1500m and 11:23.18 in the 3000m.
Her next closest competitor in the 1500m was French Guiana’s Lili Piquemal (6:02.82) who was followed by Suriname’s Iihaisa Sennebad in 6:09.03s.
The 3000m silver medalist was Guyana’s Rosamond Harvey (13:10.45s) while Sennebad bagged another bronze in 13:28.01s.
Another double gold medalist for Guyana was Jamie Fraser who won the boys shot put (12.29m) and discus throw (32.16m). He relegated Suriname’s Elithai Zamuel (11.50m) and Guyana’s Delon Hope (10.44m) in the shot put while Hope (28.62m) and Zamuel (28.49m) switched positions in the discus throw.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s Ezekiel Newton (10.72s) and Athaley Hinckson (12.23s) blazed to victories in the blue riband 100m races.
While Newton convincingly won his race against fellow podium dwellers, his teammate, Osrick Pellew (10.86s) and the Dutch, D’Angelo Huisden (11.33s), Hinckson had a photo finish with her countrywoman, Nalicia Glen who clocked almost the identical time (12.24s).
French Guiana’s Jessika Ringuet placed third in the girl’s 100m dash in 12.31s.
Other winner’s for Team Guyana yesterday included: Tiana Springer (girls 400m), Malachi Austin (boys 400m), Javon Roberts (boys 1500m), Odida Parkinson (boys 5000m) and Staffon Roach (boys triple jump). Team Guyana was also victorious in the boys 4x400m relay event. Elsewhere in the field, Suriname’s Alicia Grootfaan provided a sense of pride for her country, recording wins in the girls shot put (13.18m) and discus throw (35.41m).
The 200m, 800m, the long jumps and the 4x100m relays are set to highlight today’s programme which gets underway at 10:00hrs.
In excess of 400 athletes and officials from French Guiana, Suriname and hosts, Guyana will be involved in this year staging of the annual three-day event.
The National Gymnasium, the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), the National Aquatic Centre, the National Track and Field Centre and the Racquet Centre are some of the venues playing host to the nine-discipline fixture.
The disciplines are cycling, track and field, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, football, swimming, basketball and badminton.
