The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) last week made the decision to postpone its fourth developmental meet owing to coronavirus concerns.
Sunday, April 18 would have marked the fourth developmental meet on Guyana’s athletics calendar. The weekend of April 17 and 18 was initially penciled in to host the country’s Senior National Track and Field Championships, but this plan was quashed owing to issues with the track and starting blocks, which were not up to international standard.
The revised plan to host a developmental meet in that slot instead was, however, also not seen through, owing to the decision by AAG to postpone the event.
Speaking via telephone with Guyana Times Sport on Monday, AAG President Aubrey Hutson shared why his Association made that move.
“The decision, as a matter of fact, to postpone was done against the backdrop of us observing in Guyana that the number of COVID cases are rising,” Hutson explained.
He added, “And we are still in a dilemma, as it relates to what’s going to happen at the South American level with Argentina.”
“Just coming off of another developmental [meet], I think, give it some space, and I hope that the numbers go down, so we could have a comfortable meet,” the athletics boss concluded.
Local athletes are expected to head back to the track this weekend
A fourth meet is still on the cards and is expected to be executed this coming weekend, on Saturday, April 24, with requisite permission from the National COVID-19 Task Force.
In the meantime, while the national meet was put on hold, club training was not, giving Coaches ample time to get their athletes prepared for the approaching competition.
“No, no, no, our athletes are training; you know, doing what they have to do,” Hutson disclosed.
He continued, “But in order for you to prepare for competition, the Coach will need to know long beforehand exactly which days we will have competition, to know, you know, how to schedule his training, what kind of sessions to have with his athletes in preparation.”
Additionally, according to the athletics boss, this shift in dates will not affect the May 29 and May 30 dates scheduled for the National Senior Championships.
Meanwhile, the South American Senior Championships, which are slated for May 14-16, still remain a question mark, owing to the rising COVID-19 cases in the South American region.
