Members of the team who recently returned from a successful stint at the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) Games in Curacao were able to meet with President David Granger. The team’s courtesy call to the President at State House was their first stop after landing at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Head of State expressed congratulations on behalf of Guyana for their stellar performance at the Games, which saw Guyana walking away with eight medals, including a Gold medal in the men’s 100 meter race for the first time in the country’s history of participating in the Games.
Each athlete was greeted with a handshake from President David Granger.
President Granger, in his address to the athletes said that the entire country is proud of the team and expressed the hope that they would maintain and improve on that level of performance in the years to come. “The world of sport is very important particularly for young people. I always compare track and field with what happens in what used to be regarded as our prime sport; cricket. The only reason Guyana was able to rise so high in cricket and produce international greats… is because it had a broad base so by the time you reached the top you really had people of excellence. But when sports has a very narrow base you find that you do not get people consistently of international standard and I would like to express our Government’s commitment to ensuring that there is more grassroots sport in the schools and in the communities,” the President said.
The Head of State then described in great detail the events of the annual Upper Mazaruni District Games, which consists of several communities from the Hinterland coming together on their own and performing various types of sport over a week long stint every year. “We have 1,000 athletes from 10 or 12 villages just having fun, but what I am saying is right there in the hinterland you see people coming out and doing something, which I have never seen on the coasts… I have never seen 10 villages raising their own money walking great distances to live together for a full week having fun, playing sport and I believe that if we have that type of camaraderie on the coast we would see … young people coming together playing sport and interacting with each other and having good fun. I believe that as the years go by the standard of sport will raise and will rise … Competition is important and I am very proud of what you all did and on behalf of the Government of Guyana and my own behalf I would like to extend sincere congratulations to you,” the President said.