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GOA defends Beijing 2008 Olympic team

- Pompey comes in for praise

The Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) has commended the team that went to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and came back medal-less.

Chef-de-mission Noel Adonis said that while Guyana failed to win any medals the team performed creditably.
According to Adonis 12 athletes were identified to take part in track and field, six in boxing, four in table tennis and three in Taekwondo.

From left Olympian Nial Roberts, Swimming Coach Stephanie Fraser, GOA President K A Juman -Yassin, Charge-de-Mission Noel Adonis, Olympic Jr. Ambassador Alika Morgan and Manager Cornell Rose. (Lawrence Fanfair photo)

He said that by August only three had made the grade in Aliann Pompey, Mariann Burnett and US-based Adam Harris while the fourth member, swimmer Niall Roberts was given a wild card by Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) the International Swimming Federation which makes provision for that.

Roberts, according to swimming coach Stephanie Fraser, suffered from nervousness since he had never participated before in the presence of thousands of spectators. When he went into the water in his event, the 50-metre free style, he dived in too deeply, Fraser said, but managed to shave 24th of a second off his normal time swimming 25:13 as compared to his best before of 25:37. Roberts is ranked 69th in the world out of 104 swimmers.

The 17-year-old Roberts, the GOA President said, was a sure bet to take part in the London 2012 Olympics because by then the local Olympic size pool should be constructed giving local swimmers a better opportunity to train.

In Pompey’s case Adonis said that the runner’s performance in qualifying for the semi-finals and finishing 11th overall was creditable.

He said that Pompey, unlike the other athletes does not have a sponsor, does a full-time job, and is not privileged to train whole day. Pompey, he added, receives a US$1000 a month scholarship and cannot sustain herself on that in the United States.

In Burnett’s case, Adonis said, it was one of her off days as her personal best is 1:59:47 but she ran 2:02:05 and did not qualify for the heats but manager Ross said that she was “spiked”. At the end of the race he saw blood running down Burnett’s ankle. “She did well to finish the preliminary race,” Ross said.

In the case of controversial selectee US-born and based Adam Harris, he ran 21:13 in his heats and Adonis, while backing the athlete’s inclusion said that only when they arrived at the Olympics did they learn that the last time that Harris ran was at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) games in May. In that meet Harris ran a time of 20:75s.

Harris though has the backing of the GOA as President Juman Yassin who said that he was keen for the 21-year-old athlete to participate in London in 2012.

The non-inclusion of distance Runner Cleveland Forde was a hotly discussed topic as prior information revealed that the athlete would have been given a “wild card.”

This is not so, the GOA executives said. As Forde had trained under an Olympic scholarship the Amateur Athletics Association of Guyana (AAAG) had written the International Olympic Association (IOA) asking for him to be allowed to take part. Forde’s performance over the past 18 months had “nose dived” as in 2007 he ran 14:07s in the 5000m South American race but lately he had been running over 15:30s rather than 13:50s.

Meanwhile, on the local scene Yassin is calling for top class athletics to be started at schools in order to have the athletes groomed at an earlier age. This view was supported by Adonis who called for athletes to stop running barefoot on grass and to start wearing running shoes on circuit-like tracks.

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5 Responses to “GOA defends Beijing 2008 Olympic team”

CCWLLC
on September 7th, 2008 10:41 am

It about time someone defended the athletes from the Games.

However, i feel this article has still left alot for open discussion, here is some additional question i would have asked.

1) who were the 12 indentified?
2) whose going to give the athletes shoes for the track?
3) when is Guyana going to get a all weather track?
4) Why don’t the GOA or their assocation assist athletes to get overseas go to school?
5) How is it that an athlete (who is was on the watch list) fitness level was no known until they got to the games?
6) Why would Forde be selected over athletes such as Lee Powell, Jeremy Bascom and Deon Bascom who represented Guyana at CAC?
7) What will change in the selection process for 2012? Whose on the watchlist for 2012?

[Reply to this]
Charriot
on September 7th, 2008 11:23 pm

With all said and done, it’s nice to know that Guyana was represented. However, I did not see any media coverage of our athletes performance.

I was able to see the qualifying heat with pompey, and she ran well for 300m. In my opinion, I think she trains for the wrong race, she should run the 200m instead, she can medal in this event.

Now that the GOA is talking all the right talk. Like, grooming athletes from a tender age, running shoes, and all weather track. Let’s see some action before 2012.
On another note, there are many athletes from Guyana who attend college in the USA, Canada, and the UK. We need to be proactive in there whereabouts and promote national meets annually. The will give an incentive to all to participate. We will be able to see and know what we have and not be surprised at the last minute.

Note to the GOA: Be proactive and speak to the makers of athletic gear (NIKE, PUMA, ADDIDAS, NEW BALANCE) about sponsorship for equipment. Everyone else does.

[Reply to this]
jamel
on September 8th, 2008 4:32 pm

Its about time the GOA take some responsibility and work towards getting Guyanese athletes an all weather track.

Mr. Yassin attends many conferences and delivers alot of lip service to our athletes and the Guyanese people.

Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Why cant you, Mr. Blackmore, and Mr Frank Anthony
work together and get us a synthetic track.

If you Guys want these athletes to bring home medals, you too have your work cut out. So lets begin now

[Reply to this]
gtjaguar4life
on September 9th, 2008 8:46 am

There must be a plan to make an impact to just talk about 2012 is just mere words. The GOA must walk the talk and put something in place. Adonis needs to get out of football and focus on this type of development.
Why tarnish your good name with the GFF when you can work towards a meaningful development plan in athletics ?

[Reply to this]
GY2008
on September 9th, 2008 9:24 am

I must agree with you guys. Thats some insightful feedback. They need to invest in a select few athletes. Just one break through performance Guyana needs and ppl will get on board.

PPL (investors) like to see returns on their investments. if there is not an Olympic swimming pool or synthetic track then its only fair to assume that an athlete chances of meddling r slim, if not impossible.

So, as I said GOA and Guyana need a breakthrough and should focus on very few athletes and dedicate their time and money to ensure this happens.

[Reply to this]