“You will not be left out in the cold” – Minister Norton
Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr George Norton on Friday met with the Guyanese contingent of athletes and officials who recently returned from the South American Youth Games in Santiago, Chile.
“I want to assure you (athletes) that we (government) will not leave you out in the cold to fend for yourselves and only for us to have the glory” Minister Norton declared.
Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr George Norton (Front: 2nd from Right) with the athletes and officials from the contingent to South American Youth Games
He also revealed that he craved the idea of being present at the airport to welcome home the returning athletes but apologized for his absence as he was out of the country at the said time. He singled out young boxer Keevin Allicock noting that it was unfortunate the flyweight boxer could not compete, the Minister nevertheless urged him to continue striving for more despite the obstacles in his way.
The Minister urged all the athletes to continue working hard and not to look at the mistakes but instead to look to the future as the government will afford all the possible support to them.
Meanwhile Permanent Secretary (Ag) in the Ministry, Steve Ninvalle applauded the entire team saying that they were all good ambassadors of Guyana. He pointed out that in all the recent international youth events Guyana has medaled and this means that the country is doing something right.
“I want to urge everyone to put their shoulders to the wheel, because exactly what we put in that is what we will take out.”
Deshana Skeete secured Guyana’s only gold medal when she ran the race of her life and clocked her personal best in the Girls 400 Metres. Skeete clocked her fastest time of 57.28s as she chased down Brazilian Jessica Vitoria De Oliveira Moreira (57.54s) to cross the line and secure gold.
Kenisha Philips snared silver in the Girls 100 and 200 metre events while Jermain King also won silver in the Boys 100 metres.
Guyana was also represented in badminton and table tennis, with Priyanna Ramdhani doing well to reach the quarter-final stage in the Badminton Girls Single category, while her male compatriot, Tyrese Jeffrey, was knocked out in the opening stages.
Miguel Wong and Nickolus Romain were both early round casualties as well, in the male table tennis competition.
In some controversy, young flyweight boxer Keevin Allicock and Christopher Moore were ineligible to participate, as the Games Committee ruled them out due to age stipulation changes made.
