Cleveland Forde's gold was highlight of year
Athletics Year in review
Stabroek News
December 25, 2006
Cleveland Forde's gold medal win in the 5000m at the South American under-23 Games in Argentina can be considered the high-point of the year for athletics in Guyana.
Forde not only snatched the coveted gold medal but he also did it in record time running 14:07:08s to break the 48-year-old record .
For good measure Forde also added a silver medal to the gold by placing second to Venezuelan Eduardo Villaneuva in the 1500m.
Forde was lauded for the feat and urged to continue in good stead by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony, the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA).
The year for rack and field began in fine style with Royal Youth Movement (RYM) athletic club claiming the Athletic Association of Guyana's (AAG) annual inter - club relay title ahead of defending champions Police Athletic Club.
The inter-club relays was held at the Police Sports Club ground Eve Leary on February 26th. RYM amassed a total of 192 points to dethrone Police (181 points) while New Campbellville School was third with 69 points.
Two weeks later, local juniors took the Enmore Community Centre (ECC) ground by storm when the AAG staged the National Junior Championships on February 9th.
Bygeval Multilateral's Monica Roberts came of age in the girls' 400m event, outlasting her rivals from Police, Marcia Mentore and RYM, Rhondel Alleyne to set her apart as a major campaigner in the distance this year.
Guyana's two overseas-based international female athletes, Aliann Pompey and Marian Burnett competed at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) 11th World Indoor Championships, March 10 - 12th in Russia but were unable to land any major medals.
Days after the World Indoor meet, Pompey and Burnett, along with the Keyan-based Forde, represented Guyana at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne Australia, March 15 - 26th where Forde finished a creditable 15th in the 500m final in a time of 14:11:82 his best time for the event before the South American juniors.
The AGG sanctioned the annual University of Guyana inter-faculty track and field championships held on March 19th with the School of Education and Humanities emerging victorious at the event.
Local senior athletes, Rawle Greene, Alisha Fortune, Trevor Scotland and Tai Payne turned in admirable performances at the AAG's senior national trials on March 12th at the ECC ground.
Greene and Payne representing Bedford All Star athletics club recorded wins in the 100m and 800m events respectively while GFP's Scotland won the 400m.
Fortune, running unattached, claimed the 100 and 200m races.
Top junior sprinter, Goddis Accra held the fastest time overall in the 100m for 24 hours this year when he blasted 10.5 seconds at the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) trials on March 25th to edge Greene's senior trial time of 10.6 seconds.
However, Greene shattered the 10.5 mark with a blistering 10.40 seconds in the 100m the following day at the President's Invitational meet to set the fastest time recorded locally in the event for 2006.
Accra placed second in the 100m event at the President's Invitational ahead of Keith Roberts. Fortune continued her dominance with wins in the 100m and 200m event while Alika Morgan carted off the 3000m race.
Trishell Thompson dominated the field events with wins in the Shot Putt and Discus but the biggest upset of the President's meet came when junior 400m athlete Rhondell Adams out sprinted senior counterparts, Payne and Scotland to claim the event.
Greene, Scotland, Fortune, Morgan and Thompson represented Guyana at the Southern Games in Trinidad and Tobago while Greene, Scotland and Fortune stayed over for the Palo Seco Games in Trinidad the following week.
Guyana retained the IGG games Track and Field title at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) ground on April 22nd with a total of 377 points ahead of French Guiana's 259 points and Suriname's 200 points.
The AAG, in collaboration with the IAAF, hosted the World Athletics Day meet at the Police ground on May 7th, where events for athletes under age 15 were introduced for the first time as part of the IAAF calendar.
Morgan, Roberts, Horatio, Adams and overseas-based sprinter, Dax Danns represented Guyana at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) junior championships in Trinidad in June.
Greene and Scotland were rewarded for their consistent performance when they were selected by the AAG to participate in the CAC seniors in Columbia in July. Burnett and Pompey joined them at the meet. Local junior sprinters, Accra and Triston Joseph wore national colors at the Carifta Games in Guadeloupe while Morgan along with teammate Kelvin Johnson participated at the Caricom 10 km road race in St. Kitts and Nevis. Greene got the nod for the South American Senior Championships in Columbia while Morgan and Afeez Samad went to the South American Youth Championships in Venezuela.
Lionel D'Andrade outlasted Johnson and Horatio at the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) 10 km road race on October 15th. D'Andrade claimed the first leg of the South American 10 km road race in Suriname a week later. However, his reign as 10 km road king ended the following week on October 29th when Forde snatched the second leg of the South American 10 km race ahead of Trinidadian Richard Jones. D'Andrade was 4th in the event.
Meanwhile, the Upper Demerara/Kwakwani district retained their national schools' track and field, cycling and swimming championships title at the 46th Guyana Teachers Union (GTU)/Ministry of Education games late November.
The AAG gave sanctions to the Anglican Diocese of Guyana Youth Championships and the Royal Games apart from the University of Guyana and the GTU games. The AAG was not able to host the 2006 Inter Club Championships.
As part of the AAG's attempt to influence the decision making process of the various regional athletic bodies to which the AAG is affiliated, the local body was represented at several congresses.
These congresses include the Carifta Games, Central American & Caribbean Athletics Confederation and South American Athletic Confederation Congresses in Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Brazil respectively.
President of the AAG, Claude Blackmore was elected to serve for three years as vice - president of the Pan American Athletic Commission at the Congress held in Brazil late August.
Coach of the Police Sports Club, Lyndon Wilson attended a three-month diploma program at the Simmelweis University in Hungary while New Amsterdam Track Club's, Robert Chisholm, attended a Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) advanced coaching course in middle and long distance running in Mexico.
Coach of the Upper Demerara Schools Athletic Club, Wanda Richmond is currently awaiting results from an IAAF level 111 coaching course she attended at the Regional Development Centre in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The IAAF's coaching structure was adopted by the AAG and the following appoints were made: Chief Coach: Elton Smith, assistant Chief Coach: Wanda Richmond, Head Coach (Jumps): Christopher Gaskin and Head Coach (middle & long distance): Lyndon Wilson.
The 2006-year in athletics ended when IAAF regional director for South America, Juan Alberto Scarpin visited Guyana on an assignment to from the IAAF to visit countries in the region that do not have synthetic tracks and raised the possibility of Guyana acquiring that much needed facility.