Athletics Review 2020
AAG events like all other sports were affected last year.
Kaieteur News – Sport was dormant for nine months (March 2020 – November 2020) because of the regulations put in place to fight the deadly COVID-19 pandemic and despite many nations coming out of lockdown early and returning to training and / competition a lot formerly, Guyanese athletes did not have that luxury.
The year started off positively with the Guyana Athletic Association (AAG) able to hold a total of three development meetings by January 15th.
More than 150 athletes took to the grounds of the Enmore Community Center (ECC) on the Demerara East Coast (ECD) on January 15th for the third CEG development meeting which culminated in glorious sunshine.
At the ECC, which is opposite the Enmore Martyr monument, Sprinter Davin Fraser of the Progressive Police Youth Club (PPYC) and National Javelin record holder Leslain Baird of the Guyana Defense Force (GDF) club turned in notable performances.
In the men’s 60m open race, Fraser clocked a fiery 6.90s in a big win over the field. His club friend Stephon Boodie was second in 7.04s, while Yannick Williams of GDF was third in 7.11s.
At the open men’s Javelin event, Baird, who missed the business end of the 2019 season after suffering from internal hemorrhoids, continued his positive recovery with an impressive performance. Baird registered a distance of 64.90m, jogging into the heavy Atlantic Ocean breeze while using a short run.
Following the third development meeting, the young stars showed that they were hungry and eager to represent the Golden Arrowhead at the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) games due in Bermuda with 12 athletes qualified on for the canceled Easter weekend games as early as February.
Among those athletes are Anisha Gibbons, the 2019 Javelin bronze medal winner, Loneil Marks, Attoya Harvey, Seon Booker and Okenoko Pascal. Pascal qualified for the boys under-17 shot, while Booker and Harvey would have represented Guyana in the 1500m men’s and women’s races, respectively. He made the Carifta (CS) standard marks in the boys 100m under-20s.
The other seven athletes who qualified were Wesley Tyndall, Randy Hamilton, Adriel Austin, Keliza Smith, Annalisa Barclay, Princess Browne and Trevon Hamer.
Still on the subject of Carifta games, the ‘land of many waters’ has been confirmed as guests of the promising 50th edition of the tournament now pushed back to 2022.
The last meeting before the lockdown, the Early Season Classic, started despite the threat of the pandemic and was a successful meeting at the National Track & Field Center (NTFC) in Edinburg.
Although the number of spectators sprinkled, most of the athletes took action during the two-day match which attracted several foreign athletes.
Regular suspects Davin Fraser (100m) and Akeem Stewart (200m) took away top honors in the main event, while national javelin record holders Leslain Baird, Emmanuel Archibald, Joshua Tappin and Isaiah Lewis did light work of ‘ u opponents in the field events.
Fraser, of the Progressive Police Youth Club, clocked 10.26se to take the fastest man tag of the meet, leading Archibald (10.32s) and Stewart (10.42s) on the podium in the men’s 100m final.
On November 1, authorities approved the return of sport and the EAW wasted little time in hosting two highly successful cross-country events, along with Team Guyana’s participation in the Ekiden virtual world relay.
The final event of the year was a local 10k race in South America that Winston Missigher comfortably won on December 13 to $ 150,000 pockets, while on the saddle side Sheama Tyrell walked away with the top prize of $ 150,000.