THE Guyana team who represented the country at the just concluded South American Youth Games in Santiago, Chile, returned to home turf yesterday afternoon and were met with a warm welcome from friends, family and supporters.

None on the team was happier than the medallists Kenisha Phillips, Deshanna Skeete and Jermaine King, who could not stop beaming from ear to ear as they were continuously congratulated by well-wishers when they arrived in Georgetown at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The second edition of the South American Youth Games wrapped up last Sunday with Guyana securing four medals, all in the discipline of athletics.
“I just feel proud of myself and glad that I can make my country and my club and my mother proud,” Skeete remarked yesterday.
On her first outing at an international event Skeete landed a gold medal – Guyana’s highlight at the Games as it would be Guyana’s first gold in the history of the event, and the team’s only gold medal this year.
The Mackenzie High School (MHS) third former clocked 57.28 secs to win ahead of Brazil’s Jessica Moreira who ran 57.54 seconds in the event.
“It was very challenging at first when I got into the blocks I wasn’t feeling right, the place was very cold. But overall I felt good, the experience was very good but it was very cold,” she noted.
Phillips also noted that though the cold was overwhelming at times, her determination led her through it all.
Phillips won silver in the Girls’ 100m and 200m, her first silver at an international event of this magnitude.
“The air was very cold but I was able to manage. Because I trained very hard, my coach made sure I did. I knew to myself that I was going to medal, I checked up the timings and compared their times to mine and mine was the best.
Even for the semi we had to run it in the rain. But it was okay because I was accustomed to rainy weather,” said Phillips, who will now be turning her focus to landing a spot at Nationals.
Phillips had big praise and thanks for her coach, her sponsor, Colin Ming, and all her family and friends who supported her performance at the event. The other medallist, King, returned home with a silver, having finished second in the Boys’ 100m.
However, also smiling despite much adversity was boxer Keevin Allicock.
Chef-de-Mission for the team, Godfrey Munroe, noted that despite Guyana not medalling in the other sports he was still satisfied that the athletes gave of their best and gained experience.
“I would like to focus on the positives. We wanted to ensure that the athletes were competitive and they were competitive. I’m happy by the competitiveness from the athletes,” Munroe said.