world number three ranked triple jumper Troy Doris, arguably Guyana’s best chance of a medal at the 2016 Rio games is in Guyana courtesy of the Guyana Olympic Association. At a press conference held on Wednesday at Olympic House on High Street, Georgetown the jumper with the second longest leap of the year (17.10 meters) revealed his joy at not only qualifying for the summer Olympics but also being able to represent his family and
Troy Doris
Guyana at the highest level.
The overjoyed 27 year old revealed that for a while now he had wanted to be in Guyana and is very grateful for the opportunity especially during this Independence Golden Jubilee time where he plans to soak up as much of Guyana’s culture as possible. The lad express his feeling when he qualified for the Olympics, “I had this sense of joy that it was over and I got to tell my mother, father and brothers that I finally qualified for the Olympics and that joy was amplified because of representing Guyana.”
Troy Doris who resides in Chicago, Illinois, will depart the land of many waters on Tuesday May 31 for one month in Greece where he would unite with his Greek coach to continue his training. He would also compete at two International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Diamond league meets, on June 9 in Oslo, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden on June 16.
President of the Guyana Olympic Association K. Juman Yassin revealed that the Association will fund almost all of Mr. Doris’ expenses for his pre parations ahead of the Rio Games. He also mentioned that the Association is awaiting the plans of the country’s other Olympic qualifiers Brenessa Thompson (100 & 200m), Aliyah Abrams (400m) and Winston George (400m) to assist them where possible.
Mr. Yassin further stated that the Association plans to fund the travel expenses for the athletes on solidarity scholarship (Stephan James, Winston George, Adam Harris and Kadecia Baird) to compete at the Aliann Pompey Invitational on June 18. Additionally, the Association also intends to foot the bill for the athletes that have qualified for the Olympics to participate at the meet with the exception of Doris who would be unavailable.
The invitational which is also a qualifying tournament for the Olympics will be held at the Leonara Track & Field facility, West Coast Demerara will also provide an opportunity for local athletes in the likes of Natricia Hopper and others to have a shot at their relevant qualifying targets.
The Iowa University student, Troy Doris is the son of Tessa Franco and Paul Doris who are both born Guyanese and former residents of East La Penitance, Georgetown.
