By Rawle Toney

WITH time ticking away for track and field athletes to make the qualifying standard times and distances listed by World Athletics for the Tokyo Olympic Games, president of the Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson, believes that the overseas-based athletes stand a better chance of qualifying, as compared to those in Guyana.

Qualification for the Tokyo Games must be completed by June 29, 2021; the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had said following a revision after the advent of COVID-19 had forced a cancellation of the Tokyo Olympic Games. The final deadline for entries to be submitted to the IOC is July 5.

The new deadlines were named as part of a series of amendments to the Tokyo 2020 Qualification System Principles, approved by the IOC qualification taskforce.

Hutson, speaking exclusively to Chronicle Sport, said the locally-based athletes were more affected by the pandemic than their colleagues in the Diaspora.

Aliyah Abrams is so far the lone Guyanese to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

“Most of our athletes who we think are going to make that Olympic team are on scholarship in the USA. While I have great hope in folks like Davin Fraser, Devon Barrington and Akeem Stewart and Leslyn Baird, who are in Guyana to make it, I’m more concerned about them and their lack of competition,” Hutson said.

The AAG president said even if the Association had wanted to expose the aforementioned athletes to competition overseas, “the airports were closed and they couldn’t have gone anywhere. We’ve had some opportunities to send athletes to compete on the European circuit, but they couldn’t leave.”

The COVID-19 pandemic, according to Hutson, has hit the sport of track and field the hardest, since it can turn out to be the primary reason some of Guyana’s top local athletes were prevented from reaching the Olympic Games.

In the interim, Hutson said the AAG is keeping a close eye on the athletes overseas.

Aliyah Abrams, one of the top 400M athletes overseas, is poised to represent Guyana at her second Olympic Games, having participated at the 2016 event in Brazil.

Hutson said Arinze Chance is also close to qualifying, and will be hitting the US circuit in an effort to have the best chance of reaching Tokyo.

The AAG boss said the COVID-19 restrictions are not fair to track and field in Guyana, adding that they have a number of athletes, locally, who are “knocking on the doors and are just hoping to make the qualifying standards to get into the Olympics. Emmanuel Archibald is home and is working and I know he just can’t wait to get back to Jamaica.”

“There are many athletes, but with COVID-19, there’s only so much we can do and no more, so we’re hoping that the athletes who are based overseas can make us proud,” Hutson said.

This year’s Aliann Pompey’s Invitational can be seen as a last resort for Guyanese athletes to qualify for the Olympic Games in Japan.

Eleven athletes, none Guyanese, qualified for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, from competing at the AP Invitational.

A date for next year’s event, according to Pompey, will be announced soon, but certainly, the event will once again be the gateway to the Olympic Games.

Troy Doris (Triple Jump); Brenesa Thompson (100M and 200M); Winston George (400M) and Abrams (400M) suited up for Guyana in Track and Field at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Only Doris reached the final of his event, finishing seventh overall.