By Neto Baptiste
Junior athletes denied the opportunity to compete at this month’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, due to an administrative blunder have broken their silence on the issue, demanding more from those charged with managing the sport.
Among those speaking out about the ordeal is Fleming, the 2022 Under-17 Carifta gold medallist in the 100 meters.
“Yeah, it hit hard but I think that next week it will even hit harder because next week is when the games start, and to see that I was way ahead of when I ran my two personal bests back in June at the National Championships where I produced the time of 10.40 in the 100 and 21.06 in the 200, it’s just painful.
“I know I was going to do something good at World Juniors but we have been stripped of scholarship offers and stuff like that and that’s one of the main reasons that pushes our young athletes,” he said.
Sprinter and 200 meters specialist Kasiya Daley said he felt that his hard work was all for nothing and believes the athletics association should be held accountable.
“All the sacrifices that were made to make sure I was prepared and ready for the meet went down the drain. The time that myself, the other guys and girls were hitting in training, we knew that when we went out and make sure we execute that a [good] time was going to come. We were stripped of many opportunities [because] the athletics association failed to register us, not one athlete but four athletes, including some who qualified before nationals. They not only failed to register us by the original deadline but also failed to register us on the extended deadline and someone has to pay for that. I think when it is going to hit the hardest is when I am home watching it on the TV if I decide to watch,” the athlete said.
Last week, Observer media broke the news that the athletes had hit qualifying marks in various events for the August 27-31 games, but have been denied the opportunity to compete due to an administrative blunder. The association missed both the initial registration deadline and an extended deadline of August 12 set by World Athletics for the meet.
Female sprinter, Geolyna Dowdye, said she was distraught after receiving the news but encouraged her teammates to remain steadfast in their mission of achieving greatness.
“It really broke me and when we got the news I cried for a whole day but I am feeling better than I was yesterday. I want to encourage my teammates to stay strong and our work has not gone to waste. Let’s work even harder at what we love and remember, we may have been delayed but not denied; God is in control,” she said.
To date, there has been no official statement by the Antigua and Barbuda Athletics Association (ABAA) on the matter while calls by some members for an executive meeting to be held to discuss the issue have reportedly gone unanswered by the head of the ABAA, Everton Cornelius.
When he was contacted by Observer media some days ago, Cornelius refused to comment.
