It was announced on Friday that 13 countries have confirmed their participation in the upcoming South American U-20 Championship slated for June 3-4 in Guyana at the Synthetic Track, Leonora.
This was revelation was made by Athletics Association Guyana (AAG) President Aubrey Hutson at a press conference on Friday where he also told media operatives that while some countries have submitted their initial lists of athletes scheduled to participate at the meet, those remaining have until May 15 to submit which will see some 350 athletes participating at the Championship.
The various representatives at the launch of the event on Friday
Hutson maintained that Guyana is ready to host an event of this kind noting, “we know that there is always the question of whether we can do this, is Guyana ready for this? Guyana is going to be as ready as any other nation in South America”.
He continued that while most countries have already booked their tickets for the trip “we must make this happen, make this happen in a big way for Guyana, for our athletes. We must do this for national pride.
He added “we must convince the rest of the world that we are ready to hold not only this South American Championships, but we may go on to host CARIFTA, Pan Am and CAC Games.”
In terms of preparation for the event, Hutson noted that while the Leonora venue is not fully complete, the AAG has ordered cages (which are being locally manufactured) for the discus and hammer throw events, extra hurdles as a precaution of others being broken as well as the construction of Pole Vault pits.
Meanwhile, the AAG has currently shortlisted 65 athletes who being encamped every weekend which will see a final team of around 30 athletes to represent to the host.
