SA U23 C/ships a no-go without Leonora track upgrade

As far as preparation goes, the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) is vigorously planning to have a top-tier venue at Leonora for upcoming regional and international track meets.
The closest of these would be the South American Under 23 Track and Field Championships, which were slated for the Leonora Track and Field Facility in Guyana last year. However, the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to those plans.
Now, in 2021, with the possibility of the event being hosted around September/October here, the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) is looking to work out all the quirks that currently affect the venue.
According to AAG President Aubrey Hutson, the body’s main concern is the track not being up to international standards.

“We are still looking at it, our local Organizing Committee here, still looking at it, because one of our biggest issues is the state of Leonora,” Hutson revealed.
He explained his reasoning by stating, “We don’t want to invite people to Guyana and then somebody has to stand on the back of the blocks in the 100, 200, 400 metres or even in the hurdles event.”
During the sit-down with the Guyana Times Sport, the AAG boss went on to share that the Association has been scouting contractors and are awaiting some figures to present to the Sport Ministry and world governing body.
The AAG President disclosed, “So I’m in contact right now with a contractor (who) was referred to me by the President of NACAC (North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletics Association), and we’re in negotiations as to the costs. It will, you know, take the remark and repair our track.”
“And I guess those figures will be passed on to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and we will make a decision there on if they’re going to fund the entire thing, if you’re going to look to World Athletics and government as a partnership. We’ve looked at PANAM sports and government and you know, whatever it is.”
As described by Hutson, there is a dire need to have the work done, since the current state of the venue would make international meets very difficult.
“But we need the figures so that we could present them and then work on the dynamics of how the contractor is going to be paid to have this done. In the absence of that, it is going to be very, very difficult for us to host those games here,” Hutson shared with this publication.
While Guyana is billed to host the SA U23 Championships later this year, it is likely that they would have to wait until 2023 to host the CARIFTA Games. Although there are two tracks in the works, at Linden and Berbice respectively, they cannot be considered owing to their non-completion.