THIS year will make the fifth successive year that National Cycling Coach Hassan Mohammed will partner with the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), to host its annual Youth Olympic Day cycling event on Saturday.

The meet is being hosted in recognition of Olympic Day which was observed on June 20.
The event will feature five exciting categories, as some of the best young prospects compete for the top honors when they converge at the inner circuit of the National Park from 09:30hrs.

According to Hassan, the categories include BMX Boys 6-9 years (2 laps); Boys 9-12 years (2 laps); Boys 12-14 years (3 laps); Mountain Bike (5 laps) and 12-14 juniors and juveniles (10 laps).

Last year, Nigel Duguid won the 10-lap feature event in a time of 24 minutes and 36 seconds, with Curtis Dey and Jason Cameron finishing second and third respectively.
Jonathon Ramsuchit won the 12-14 category, while Jeremiah Harrison won the 9-12 BMX Boys and Lumesh Singh 6-9 Boys.

This event which forms part of the celebration of Olympic Day worldwide was included in the Olympic Charter in 1978, as an encouragement to all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to organise activities which promote the Olympic Movement.

The national cycling coach also indicated that the event will sprout new talents who would like to get involved in the sport, and can benefit from the 42nd `Teach Them Young’ programme which rides off from July 9 to September 1, in the National Park.

The yearly programme which is featured during the summer vacation, targets school children but is not limited to them, as Mohammed pointed out the event is open to anyone interested in the sport.
To be a part of the action is simple, all you need is protective gear especially a helmet, as well as a bicycle in working order.

Hassan explained that the programme is absolutely free and all that is required is to be registered. Persons desirous of registering can do so at the National Park or at the National Sports Commission.

To date, the programme is on record as having groomed 95 per cent of the cyclists who have represented Guyana, including current Secretary General of the GOA, Hector Edwards, who had participated in the inaugural run of the programme in 1976.

As the years rolled by, the likes of Marcus and Noel Fiedtkou, Byron and Burtram James, Godfrey Pollydore, Dwayne Gibbs, Linden Dowridge, Robin Persaud, Eric Sankar,Tyrone Hamilton, Troy Humphrey, Alex and Reginald Mendz, Junior Niles, Geron Williams, Warren McKay, Raynauth Jeffrey, Michael Anthony, Hamza Eastman, Raphael Leung and Jamal John, are all products.

The programme will held Monday to Friday from 09:00hrs to 11:00hrs.