By Kiev Chesney
Overseas-based Guyanese athlete Adam Harris will be attending the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games as Guyana’s only qualified male athlete, the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) has revealed.
According to President of the Guyana Olympic Associa-tion (GOA) K.A Juman Yassin, Cleveland Forde who returned home on Monday from the Kipchoge Keino high altitude training facility in Kenya, will no longer be able to participate as unqualified athlete as the GOA had earlier indicated.
“Harris, who is an overseas-based college athlete, has achieved the ‘B’ qualifying mark in the 200m and will be participating in the Olympics and that means that our unqualified athlete Cleveland Forde will no longer be attending the games,” Yassin said earlier this week.
Yassin explained that after Harris would have qualified in the 200m and has agreed to represent Guyana, it took away the allowance of one male unqualified athlete per country that was afforded to Guyana by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
This was because a country is only given the allowance of one qualified athlete providing that no male athlete has qualified mainly for track and field.
Yassin also said that since the GOA had already purchased Forde’s ticket and that since he can no longer participate the ticket will be wasted
.
Harris, 21, attends the University of Michigan and equalled the 200m ‘B’ qualifying mark of 20.75s when he won the 200m at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in May where he also jumped his personal record of 7.74m to place second in the long jump. Both performances were NCAA Midwest Regional records.
According to the information supplied by the University of Michigan Track and field website (www.mgoblue.com/ track-field-m/playerbio.aspx) Harris attended Wheaton North High School where he was awarded two-time Gatorade Illinois Athlete of the Year (2004, ‘05) and captured back-to-back titles in the 100m, 200, and 110m hurdles during his high school career Harris also won 100m, 200m and 110m hurdles titles at the Dupage Valley Conference meet (2004, ‘05) and claimed back-to-back 55m, 200 and 55m hurdles titles at the conference indoor meet (2004, ‘05).
He also ran the Olympic `B’ qualifying time in the 100m when he clocked 10.24s to finished 8th at the Sea Ray relays.
Harris’ parents are Albert and Darlene, his father competed in track, basketball and football at Wheaton College.
