… rack up 91 medals – 38 gold, 34 silver and 19 bronze

GUYANA’S team to the Pan American/South American Powerlifting (FESUPO) and Bench Press Equipped and Classic Championships returned home over the last two days with a performance that was beyond exceptional.

The team racked up 91 medals – 38 gold, 34 silver and 19 bronze to finish third in the 13-team event.

Coach of the team, Erwin Smith, told Chronicle Sport, “The performance exceeded my expectations.”

“The team beat my expectation,” Smith said, adding that their first plan was to end the tournament with all their athletes uninjured.

“One of our goals was basically to beat our last medal haul (2017) championship and we did that and doubled it plus extra and it was very much an experience.

“This was my first stint in coaching and such a large team, but I think I did well.”

Chronicle Sport also spoke to Runita White, who outlined her performances throughout the event.

“I am proud of my accomplishments even though it was not my best performance of my powerlifting experiences but, at the end of the day, I still tried my best and I got second in my category and first place for heaviest squat.”

White ended with two gold and six silver medals.

The other members of the team were Nadina Taharally (4 gold, 5 silver), Natoya Robinson (6 gold, 2 silver), Lisa Oudit (1 silver, 4 bronze), Noel Cummings (8 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze), Frank Brisport-Luke (11 silver, 3 bronze), Bjorn Williams (2 gold, 4 bronze), Frank Tucker (8 gold, 4 bronze) and Naranjan Singh (8 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze).