National Senior Athletics Championships next focus for Olympic qualification

The National Senior Track and Field Championships later this month will be the primary focus for athletes seeking to qualify for the July-August Olympic Games in Tokyo, according to the President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson.

Guyana sent 12 athletes to the Senior South American Championships, which concluded on Monday in Ecuador, and they copped five medals, but none were able to qualify for the Olympic Games.

To date, the lone Track and Field athlete to qualify from Guyana is 400m runner Aliyah Abrams.

Hutson indicated to the News Room Sport this week, that everyone’s attention will now shift to ensure they perform at their peak at home from June 18-20 at the National Synthetic Facility, Leonora.

“It [National Championships] is the next highest points earner, and we expect everybody to be here for that event,” the AAG Head expressed.

According to Hutson, while some athletes asked for it to be further pushed back, he felt the earlier the championships are held, it gives room for athletes to find other meets to possibly qualify for the Olympics.

The qualification period for the Olympics will end on June 29, 2021.

Athletes will have two ways to qualify- achieve the entry standard within the respective qualification period or qualify by virtue of his/her IAAF World Ranking position in the selected event at the end of the respective qualification period.

According to World Athletics, the process is designed to achieve about 50 percent of the target numbers for each event through entry standards and the remaining 50 percent through the IAAF world ranking system.

The AAG head further stated, he expects a large contingent of overseas-based Guyanese athletes to return for the meet, and there is interest from Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago athletes to attend as well.

The entry standard qualification was the hope for those in Ecuador, but the AAG President he is still happy with the performances.

Hope for Relay team

Guyana’s male 4x100m Relay team won bronze at the Senior South American Athletics Championships, which has caused Hutson to be optimistic about the future of the team.

He, however, stressed the need for more exposure.

Prior to Team Guyana heading to Ecuador for the South American Championships, both Hutson and President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), K.A Juman-Yassin, said it is imperative they begin to build a strong relay team.

The team delivered bronze at those Championships with a time of 40.02s to finish third in the Men’s 4X100m relay. Brazil won the event in 39.10s, followed by Colombia in 39.65s.

That team comprised of Emanuel Archibald, Akeem Stewart, Jeremy Bascom and Noelex Holder.

He added, “Keeping them [Relay team] in competition and having your national team compete is only going to do good for Guyana as a whole because when they go out there and compete as relay team it is Guyana that get the credits.”

In case a National Olympic Committee has already qualified through the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, the remaining places will be allocated according to the World Athletics Top Performance Lists of June 29, 2021.

For the results to be valid for qualification purposes, a minimum of two different international teams, representing at least two countries, must compete in the race.