Athletics in the bag

 From Kiev Chesney
 in Suriname 

Guyanese patriotism was sky high at the Andre Kamperveen (AK) stadium here yesterday as supporters of the national athletics team watched as the athletes running under the banner of the Golden Arrowhead, flourished every time they took to the track.

TRULY GOLDEN! The Guyana male and female 4×100 relay teams bask under the Golden Arrowhead after producing golden performances in the sprint relays. (Kiev Chesney photo)It was a truly golden performance from the athletes in the final session of the track and field competition of the first stage of the 2008 Inter-Guiana Games.

And, although the official results of the athletics championships could not be prepared because of a power failure at the stadium, it was evident that Guyana comfortably won the event.

Not only did they win most of the races but the athletes showed remarkable consistency by medaling in each event.

Yesterday, Treiston Joseph completed his sprint double with a superb victory in the 200m.

The youngster was relatively unchallenged as he shot around the turn and made quick work of the athletes in the higher lanes.

Not to be outdone, Janella Jonas too collected a second goal medal when she won the girls’ 3000m while Carlissa Atkinson made it a 1-2 sweep collecting her second silver to add to the 1500m silver medal she won the previous day.

The boys’ 5000m was also an all-Guyana affair but this time Tyshon Bentick turned the tables on Carlon Halley to steal the gold medal after he was outsprinted in the 1500m.
 
Natasha Doris leapt her way to the top of the podium after surviving a jump-off with a Surinamese competitor in the high jump which continued from the previous day.

Just as promised, the Guyana female 4x100m girls and boys’ teams reeled in to two first place finishes.

The girls’ relay team featured Doris (who replaced the injured Ianna Graham) Letitia Myles, Tiffany Carto and Roxanna Rigby who anchored the team in grand style.

The boys’ team got off to a flyer from 2008 Carifta Games participant Timothy Doris before Carlwyn Collins expeditiously limped to Joseph who then cleaned-up on the third leg before Mikael Williams cruised to the finish.

Meanwhile, the Junior Jaguars could not find the back of the net against their Suriname counterparts in the final of the football segment but their defenders worked overtime to limit Suriname as well.

The teams were evenly matched but the Suriname strikers got more touches and shots to goal than Guyana.

In the 20th minute, Guyana was inches away from trailing 0-1 but the Surinamese striker muffed the penalty kicking the ball onto the upright.

The first stage of the championships concluded late last night with a closing ceremony at the Stardust International Hotel.

The official results will be published later.