AAG names 65 athletes to prepare for S/American U20 c/ships

The sum of 65 male and female track and field athletes from various clubs across the country have been named on a long list ahead of the two-day South American U-20 Championship scheduled to be staged here from June 3rd.

According to a release from the Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG), the Athletes will be coached over a period of time, with a series of encampments. They will be required to meet set guidelines for further selective process.

The encampment commenced from April 29 and concludes May 28. Every weekend the athletes are expected to camp in at the National Gymnasium.

Cornell Rose was named Manager and can be contacted on 231-0999 / 688-7221 for any further information. The list of athletes is headed by 2017 CARIFTA Games gold medalists, Compton Caesar, Chantoba Bright and Claudrice McKoy.

Guyana is set to host the biennial South American Junior Championships at the National Track and Field Centre.

The AAG was given the rights to host the South American U20 championship at the Leonora facility. This confirmation came at the CONSUDATLE Congress which was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in March.

Guyana succeeded in hosting the event which will cost in the neighborhood of $US60, 000 after the initial host, Bolivia, pulled out of staging the U20 event due to reasons beyond their control.

Half of the funding for the 11-nation event will be acquired from the IAAF.

Guyana has won eight medals (three gold, one silver, and 4 bronze) at the fixture which started in 1959. Brazil leads the table with 1591, followed by Argentina (746) and Chile (608).

The competition was first held in 1959 in Buenos Aires. It was an annual event from its inaugural year until 1962, at which point it was held every two years. The championships became an annual event again over the period between 1983 and 2003 but reverted to a biennial format from then onwards.