It was considered a lifeline thrown to the sport of power lifting locally when the Guyana Power Lifting Federation (GPLF) yesterday received a large quantity of weights from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Meanwhile, the weights could not have come at a better time as Guyana is preparing to send a three-man team to the Pan American Power Lifting Championship which is set for August 4-9 in Miami, USA.
North American Power Lifting Federation regional champion ‘Big’ John Edwards will spearhead the team which will also feature Caribbean Championship best lifter Randolph Morgan and Mervin ‘Spongy’ Moses.
President of the Federation Peter Green said that it was due to the showing of Guyana’s athletes at the Caribbean Championships this year that Guyana had won the bid to host the event next year.
However, a date for the staging of the fourth edition of the event has not yet been set due to the fact that Guyana is set to have a busy year where international events are concerned.
However, the sport ministry already has pledged its support behind the GPLF with Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony adding that the event would fall within their calendar of events.
The equipment handed over yesterday was valued at $770,000 and according to Green it might not seem as much to the rest of the world, but to power lifting it is deemed a lifeline.
He added that since the sport unlike many others are not aided by an overseas arm or can make some returns from gates, the high cost of the much needed weights was seen as almost impossible to meet and that is what made yesterday’s presentation so important.
“This has been a culmination of a long dream in power lifting because you see we have the personnel, we have the human resources, but we do not have the equipment so I made a request to the minis ter and the director of sports and I am more than elated to see this has materialized. It means more than so much to this sport right now so we want to give our heartfelt thanks to the sport ministry in fulfilling one of our lifelong dreams,” Green added.
Anthony in his response said that it was the persistent attitude of the association and the way they engaged his ministry that resulted in them making yesterday’s presentation a reality.
Anthony said that the sport ministry contacted the international body who was able to get the prices at a discount and that’s why they have the internationally recommended type of weights.
He is of the opinion that since the local athletes have been competing with distinction with the contemporary weights they had, their performance could only get better using the internationally approved weights.
“With the equipment that we have had, we have been able to produce quite startling results and I think that in itself had encouraged us to help.
“When we talk about sports, it has to be team work, it has to be commitment from the people who are involved, the association, the federation, the athletes themselves and also collaboration from corporate Guyana and the public sector and I think once we have this type of team work, sports would move forward,” Minister Anthony stated.
