Inter-Guiana Games: Springer, Newton and Roberts headline Guyana’s Athletics team

Sprinters Tianna Springer and Ezekiel Newton, along with middle-distance runner Javon Roberts, are seasoned names in junior competitions who will suit up for Guyana at the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) in Suriname from November 17-19.

Springer, who won 400m gold at the CARIFTA Games, South American U-20 Championships and the Commonwealth Youth Games, is undoubtedly the favourite to cop the 400m gold at IGG, and it could be a battle between teammate Athaleyha Hinckson for the 200m gold.

More so, Newton, who got gold at the South American U-20 Championships in the 200m, will be eying the sprint double while Roberts, who got 800m gold at CARIFTA, is sure favourite to repeat the Games in that event and the 1500m.

Overall, Guyana has a strong team and is likely to cop the majority of the medals in athletics as they did in 2022.

Meanwhile, the other disciplines that will be contested are chess, futsal, football, lawn tennis, swimming, basketball and volleyball.

The two disciplines removed from the initial list of ten sports following a request from the hosts are table tennis and badminton.

The arrival date for the travelling delegations is November 16, while the departure date is November 20.

The historic event, initially pencilled for the October 26–31 window, was deferred for several weeks owing to a shortage of fiscal resources from the Surinamese administration.

The IGG was first held in 1967 and is traditionally staged annually.

However, the games were rekindled last year by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government following a five-year hiatus, a period that encompassed the COVID-19 pandemic.