AAG awaiting new date for CARIFTA Games in Bermuda
- urges athletes to train with safety practices
The coronavirus pandemic has caused the 2020 CARIFTA Games to be postponed. The new date has not been set yet, according to President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson.
The Games were scheduled to be held in Bermuda from April 10 to 13 and was set to attract more than 600 athletes from 27 Caribbean countries.
Initially, President of the Bermuda National Athletics Association (BNAA) Donna Raynor said next month’s CARIFTA Games, “should not be affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) that is spreading across the globe.”
Bermuda was preparing to host the 49th CARIFTA Games – the fifth time the island will be the location for the event.
“It has been postponed to a date to be identified…it will not be the date as previously planned,” Hutson told News Room Sport Monday.
Last year, when the Track and Field Championships were staged in Cayman Islands, the 21 Guyanese athletes, a record number attending the championships, also produced a record of 10 medals – four gold, two silver and four bronze – which placed them fourth on the overall standings.
Jamaica (85 medals), The Bahamas (26 medals) and Trinidad and Tobago (24 medals) were the top performers. Thus far 12 have qualified from Guyana, 11 local-based and Kenisha Phillips in the United States of America.
According to Hutson, though Phillips’ performance came at an indoor meet, they were able to compute to determine she would have made the qualifying time.
Though majority of the sport disciplines in Guyana have clamped down on activities, Hutson indicated that athletes still need to keep in shape, but do so by following the safe guidelines as advised by the World Health Organisation.
“CARIFTA and the world governing body are asking us to keep our athletes sharp and fit. It is important that they still go out there and be able to train, but they need to observe the protocols that have been set.”
He added, “Our position is not for everyone to stay home and lock up in a house, we think athletes should still come out; if we look at the US [United States of America] where schools are out, they are saying still encourage the children to have activities, but observe how close one gets to people.”
The 2021 edition of the Games are slated to be held in Guyana.
