Director of Sport, Christopher Jones has commended the recent performance of the five-member team that represented Guyana at the recent Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships in the Dominican Republic and said that more support for the discipline will be forthcoming from the government.
Jones’ comments were made yesterday at the National Sports Commission (NSC) during a courtesy call by the team, the federation’s president, Keavon Bess and team manager, Franklin Brisport.
Said Jones: “Bodybuilding is noteworthy to mention because every time they participate at a regional or international event, they always return with awards. The NSC was only too proud to contribute to their travels because we knew that they would be representing the Golden Arrowhead to their best.”
At this year’s edition of the event which was held September 30 to October 1, the team bagged two gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal. It was the biggest medal haul for Guyana in the 44-year history of the competition.
Gold went to Kerwin Clarke (light middle) and US based Bruce Whatley (Master’s), while Emmerson Campbell (Men’s Physique) snared a silver and Devon Davis (bantamweight) copped bronze in the event which attracted a record 385 athletes from 30 territories.
Whatley also flexed and posed his way to a silver in the middle weight class which was won by the eventual overall winner.
Guyana’s other representative, Alisha Fortune was not as fortunate as her countrymen and was unable to qualify for the finals in the Body Fitness category. Bess contended that they will continue in the pursuit of greatness.
“It’s the fitting thing to have the athletes given the opportunity to represent Guyana at all costs and we hope that with this recent success and the success that we’ve been building on for the last couple of years that we can encourage more tangible support from the government going forward.
“The tally of medals this year is the highest since we’ve been participating in the CAC championships and the athletes would have continued to show much progress and we hope going forward, we can have the athletes represent Guyana at more competitions.”
Jones declaring that the “proof is in the pudding” said more support will be garnered by the federation and its athletes following the historic medal haul.
