Guyana at the Olympics
Guyana started its Olympic dreams of earning medals in several sporting events at the highest level of sports competition, that is the Olympic Games.
The Games which began today saw the Golden Arrowhead souring high, as a Table Tennis player, Chelsea Edghill, and swimmer, Andrew King Solomon Fowler, carried the National Flag at the opening of the 32nd Anniversary of the games.
Decked out in the colors of black, red, white, and yellow of the national flag, the team of seven outing standing Guyanese Athlete marched on at the opening ceremony, noting their presence to compete.
This year, Guyana has a 16-member contingency comprising seven Athletes and nine technical members.
The athletes are Aliyah Abrams, Emanuel Archibald, and Jasmine Abrams on the track, competing in the 400 and 100 meters.
In the pool, 15-year-old Aleka Persaud, who is the youngest member of the team, will be competing in the 50-metre (m) freestyle while her colleague Andrew Fowler will compete in the 100m freestyle.
Leading the charge in Tennis Table is Ms. Chelsea Edghill, who is Guyana’s first-ever table tennis competitor at an Olympic Games. Boxer Keevin Allicock will compete in the men’s featherweight.
The members of the technical staff are, Garfield Wiltshire- Chef-de-Mission, Angelica Holder- COVID Liaison Officer/Physiotherapist, Deion Nurse- Secretary-General, Aliann Pompey- Athlete Representative, Julian Edmonds- Athletics Manager/Coach, Denzel Abrams- Athletics Coach, Idi Lewis- Table Tennis Coach, Sebert Blake- Boxing Coach, Shyka Gonsalves- Swimming Coach.
Edghill is set to begin her quest at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on July 24, Fowler will also be in action from July 27 while Persaud begins her swim for gold three days later.
Allicock will also compete on July 24, where he would face Alexy De La Cruz of the Dominican Republic in the Round-of-32 in the Men’s Featherweight division,
Setting the stage on the track, Jasmine Abrams will be the first Guyanese athlete to take the track in Tokyo in the100m on July 30 at the Olympic Stadium while Archibald will compete in the men’s 100 m competition one day later.
Adding to the track competition, Aliyah will also compete in the women’s 400 m from August 3.
Guyana has only medal once in the games since 1980 when boxer, Michael Anthony took bronze in the men’s bantamweight.
Since then, Guyana has not returned with a medal but will have high hopes and expansion of its competition in the various aspect of sports.
The Tokyo Olympic Games which began today will end on August 8 in Japan.
