Guyana copped over 160 medals in Int’l Competitions in 2023 – Min. Ramson

Guyana achieved more than 160 medals for the first-time last year since participating in international competitions.

This monumental fete was announced by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Charles Ramson Jr during the ministry’s year-end press conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) Friday last.

“Guyana achieved for the first time ever over 160 medals in international competitions. In fact, we reported to the Ministry of Finance that it was a 135, we did a check today it’s actually over 160 medals at international competitions.

Some of the medals that we have achieved at those international competitions we have never achieved before so from an investment standpoint you can see that, that is already translating into our best performances ever,” the Minister said.

The Minister highlighted a series of competitions that resulted in the country’s sports success.

One such noteworthy achievement is Guyana’s triumph in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). The minister underscored that after 11 years Guyana won the CPL tournament along with the Four-Day tournament in April.

Added to this, “We won the under 13 tournaments too and we got second in the under 15 tournaments. So, you can see along the trajectory we are doing well, we are continuing to do well,” he disclosed.

Additionally, Guyana hosted the inter-county tournament for the first time in nine years.

Another first for the country was the under-19 tournament.

Further, the minister said that Football in Guyana is now in the top tier in the Concacaf which is the elite A-League.

He said, “First time in ever we are in that category, which is a significant achievement for us as a football-playing nation.”

Guyana also won for the first time, the men, women and veterans squash tournaments at CASA.

Meanwhile, the minister said the contribution of the Sports Academy with the launch of the leagues played a fundamental role in the sports sector’s success.

He noted that tournaments are being executed by the National Sports Commission (NSC) under the Sports Academy Programme (SAP). This partnership allowed seasoned and budding athletes to enhance their skills through training and gaming experiences.

As a result, the country hosted a basketball league, achieving another first.

Every day until March a league tournament is being executed.

The ministry was able to acquire a long-term sponsor of three years for the league.

“We have done that as well for other sports and we are going to continue to do that where the sponsors are committing to a long-term programme as part of the league so no longer the associations will have to wonder about whether they will get their tournaments off the ground,” he said.

Moreover, the minister reiterated the government’s commitment to the enhancement of the sports academy to provide athletes with much-needed experience, exposure and knowledge in the various sports.