- ‘Big John’ going for all national records

By Ravendra Kishore

The stage is all set for the 2008 Guyana Amateur Power Lifting Federation (GAPLF) senior national championships from 10:30hrs at the Banks DIH Limited Thirst Park sports club, where John ‘Big John’ Edwards will be looking to smash any national record in the super heavyweight division.

President of the GAPLF Peter Green added that the Guinness sponsored competition will see competitors coming from Berbice, Linden, West Coast Demerara and Georgetown vying for national titles in ten divisions.

The competition is being sponsored by Banks DIH through its Guinness Stoute brand at a cost of over $200,000 and according to Green, this year’s competition will be run to mirror that of the International Power Lifting Federation (IPLF) competitions, with their rules in effect. Additionally for the first time, mandatory drug testing will be introduced in accordance with the World Anti Doping Association (WADA) of which Guyana is a signatory. Green stated that at the end of the competition, a team will be selected to participate in three international events next year but this depends on the drug test results of the athletes.

The three events that Guyana is slated to take part in includes the Caribbean Championships to be held in the Cayman Islands in March, the World Juniors Championships in Brazil of which a date is yet to be announced, where the athletes selected to compete have to be under 21 years of age. Green said that presently there are two impressive sixteen year olds in Berbice who are creating a wave in that county and he hopes that they will be here in Georgetown to let the public get a glimpse of them.

The third championship is the First Championships of the Americas which will be held in Guatemala in 2009. Green said that this event will see South, North and Central Americas taking part.

Weigh in time according to Green is 9:00 hours and competition is scheduled to start at 10:30 hours. Admission to the Championships is only five hundred dollars.