Ten athletes have already booked their spots in the Guyanese contingent, which will travel to Grenada in March for the Carifta Games.
Those athletes are golden girl Tianna Springer (400m & 200m), Athaleya Hinckson (100m), Duel Europe (Boy’s Long Jump), Attoya Harvey (1500m & 800m), Kaidon Persaud (400m & 800m), Javon Roberts (800m), Ezekiel Newton (100m & 200m), Charissa December (Girls High Jump), Ryan Joseph (Boy’s High Jump), and Jaheel Cornette (200m).
With the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) already in the preparation phase for the games, Guyana’s young athletes had a chance on Saturday to achieve the benchmarks needed for them to compete at the Carifta Games, which are set to be hosted at the Kirani James Stadium in St. George’s Grenada.
At the meet on Saturday at the National Track and Field Centre in Edinburg, West Coast Demerara, Noelex Holder copped the sprint double of 100 and 200 metres, while Nalicia Glen was first in the Girl’s 100 metres and Springer took the 200 metres event.
In the Boy’s 400M, Simeon Adams, Malachi Austin, and Kaidon Persaud grabbed podium spots in that order, while on the distaff side of that event, Narissa McPherson, Marissa Thomas, and Leandre Bennett were first, second, and third respectively.
In the Boy’s long jump, Macaiah Washington was first with 6.93m, while Duel Europe had a best leap of 6.72 m for second, with Eron Leitch (6.60 m) in third. For the Girl’s event, Annalisa Redmond took first place with 5.56 million, while Amrist Hector was second with 5.17 million, and Shanika Campbell closed out the top three with 5.09 million.
The AAG will host another meet over the next weekend as they seek to maximise the chances of athletes achieving the qualifying standards needed for the event.
The designated team manager of the Guyana contingent, Telson Williams, spoke to Stabroek Sports on Saturday and revealed that funds have already been secured for outfitting the team through donations from overseas-based supporters.
Williams, who is a council member of the AAG, also noted that the athletics body has already booked tickets for the upcoming games and stressed the importance of corporate support that is needed for the success of the trip.
The 2024 Carifta Games are slated to run from March 30-April 1, and the AAG hopes to send a 25-athlete team along with seven officials, which will include Williams, coaches, and track officials.
