Guyanese boxers Olympic dreams ‘on the ropes’
FLASHBACK! Guyana’s Keevin Allicock lands a flush right uppercut against the game Trinidadian, Anthony Joseph, at the Caribbean Boxing Championship. (Stabroek News/Emmerson Campbell photo)
FLASHBACK! Guyana’s Keevin Allicock lands a flush right uppercut against the game Trinidadian, Anthony Joseph, at the Caribbean Boxing Championship. (Stabroek News/Emmerson Campbell photo)

… IOC Boxing Task Force to decide way forward on May 7 following cancellation of qualifiers

“WE have instructed our boxers to remain focussed, to continue training because nothing is off the table,” said Steve Ninvalle, president of Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), answering questions from Chronicle Sport, with regard to the new order of qualification for boxers hoping to realise their Olympic dream in Tokyo, Japan this summer. Keevin Allicock, Desmond Amsterdam, Colin Lewis, Dennis Thomas and Canada-based Taveena Kum, the lone female in the team, were hoping to pick-up five of the 49 spots for the Tokyo Olympic Games at the now-cancelled May 10-16 American Boxing Confederation (AMBC), Qualifiers in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Boxing Task Force in a statement, said the tight travel restrictions and lockdowns implemented across South America have significantly disrupted international travel and posed logistical challenges to teams travelling to and from Buenos Aires, jeopardising their ability to participate in the event. Given the nature of the event, as an Olympic qualifier, which will award a large number of direct quota places (49) for the Olympic Games, ensuring fair access and a safe environment for all athletes and officials was listed as important.

According to the Boxing Task Force, due to the complexity and nature of the sport of boxing and the large number of international participants, it was deemed not possible either to change the location, or to reschedule the event to a later date. Considering that only the boxers registered to compete in the Americas qualifier would have had a chance to gain one of the Olympic quota places originally at stake in the event, the allocation of the 49 athlete-quota places (33 for men, 16 for women) of the Americas Olympic Qualifier will remain exclusive to the athletes registered for the event. All 49 quota places of the Americas Olympic Boxing Qualifiers will be allocated via the Boxing Task Force Ranking.
Allicock, ranked 19th in the world by amateur boxing’s global governing body, AIBA, is the highest-ranked Guyanese boxer on the list to participate at the Qualifiers.
“If you ask me, if I’m optimistic that someone, or some boxer from Guyana can make the Olympics, I would say yes, because of the fact that nothing is off the table as yet,” Ninvalle stressed.

Ninvalle told Chronicle Sport, that “the IOC would have said, in the meeting with us, that you can sometimes have a boxer that is not even ranked making the qualifying standard, so it is not left up to us; I mean, we have done what we had to do. We have been training for the Olympic Qualifier which was cancelled.
“It’s now all over to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the organisers of the qualifier, because they would’ have taken that from the (International Boxing Association) AIBA.”
He said the Guyanese boxers “will remain doing what they’re doing and when the IOC would have given out the list of qualifiers for this region, we’re still hoping that Guyana is part of that.”
The reallocation of the 13 quota places originally due to be obtained at the World Olympic Qualifier and redirected to the Americas will be conducted only after allocation of the 49 athlete-quota places of the Americas Olympic Qualifier, and will follow the Eligibility Criteria found in the current Tokyo 2020 Qualification System for boxing.
The updated version of the Qualification system for the Tokyo Games will be published once approved by the IOC Executive Board, expected by May 7.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.