Greeted with flowers, confetti and rhythmic drumming, the CARIFTA Games contingent which represented Guyana in the Bahamas during the Easter weekend returned to a patriotic welcome yesterday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
The standout teen athletes who earned eight medals at the Games despite many hurdles off the track, were welcomed home by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle, Vice President of the Guyana Olympic Association, Cristy Campbell, proud parents, well-wishers, members of the Athletic body and media operatives. “Welcome Home Champs!” were the first words spoken by Minister Ramson who went on to state that he was proud of the achievements of the outfit which was hamstrung by bungled travel arrangements which saw most of them arriving late on the day of competition.
“Let me first of all say on behalf of the government of Guyana, His Excellency the President and the people of the country we want to take the opportunity to welcome home our champs who have represented us in the best possible way at the CARIFTA Games” said Ramson Jr.
Javon Roberts (800m gold and 1500m silver), Anisha Gibbons (javelin gold), Tianna Springer (400m gold), Attoya Harvey (3000m silver), Seon Booker (1500m bronze), Ezekiel Saul (U-17 Triple Jump bronze) and Trevon Hamer (U-20 Triple Jump bronze) were the medalists for Team Guyana which finished fifth on the medal table during the April 7-10 showpiece which was held at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau.
The subject Minister went on to state that the Ministry and the families of the athletes will continue to maintain a ‘strong role of partnership.’ “The Ministry and the National Sports Commission are going to continue to have a partnership role with the families. We will continue to have that strong role of partnership leading into the point to get these athletes to fulfill their dreams and desires that is only part of the investment that we are making.”
After several travel arrangements to get the athletes and the officials to the Bahamas in a timely manner fell through, the government undertook the responsibility of bringing the contingent back to the 592.
Said Ramson Jr. “That is the role of government, people must know that government must be that body that we can turn to when things go wrong.”
The Minister gave his word that the well-publicized ordeal the athletes went through prior, during and after the Games “will never occur again”.
“We will deal with the situation that occurred and what I can say is that I can give the government’s assurance to the people of the country, whatever transpired over the last few days that led us to the point of having to intervene in that kind of way, that will never occur again.”
He added “No one in Guyana could ever be happy about not getting the kind of care and representation and management for our athletes. No one can be happy about what transpired there. It is important that associations take the leadership and fulfill their responsibilities that are expected of them.”
The Minister disclosed that moving forward there will be policy changes with regards to athletes leaving the shores to represent the Golden Arrowhead.
“When our athletes leave the country to represent Guyana, it is important that they are given the best possible leadership and management and the opportunity to excel because when they get there, we don’t want them to have to face any challenges. I want to state publicly that our athletes will never face this situation again.”
Along with Ninvalle, the Minister took the opportunity to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affair in particular Chief of Protocol, Ambassador Ivan Evelyn, Guyana’s Ambassador to Cuba, H.E. Halim Majeed, Fly Always and others for aiding in providing assistance in providing comfort to the team and bringing them home.
