World champion power lifter, team pay courtesy call on President

Georgetown, GINA, September 2, 2013

 

The outstanding performance by Guyana’s first world champion power lifter and his fellow team mates was lauded today when the local powerlifting team paid a courtesy call on President Donald Ramotar at the Office of the President.

 

Also on hand was Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony who praised the athletes’ performance, especially that of 18 year old Gumendra Shewdass. “It has put us right up there in the world because he’s a world champion. He’s very young so he has a bright future in the sport”.

The nation’s youngest ever world champion who hails from Corriverton, Berbice, recently returned to Guyana after winning the  overall gold in the 53kg class at the World Sub Juniors and Juniors Championships in Killeen, Texas.

 

He thanked government and the private entities for their support, and said he was very excited with his achievement. His coach Egbert Jackson said the world is ahead of Shewdass and with the right support, he will continue to excel, eventually becoming a world champion in the open category.

 

Among the power lifters were Corporal Randolph Morgan who thanked his officers in the Guyana Police Force for supporting his efforts and 34-year old Kimberly Forde, a former body builder and five- year veteran in the sport, who thanked her husband for his support on her way to winning the 84 kg group at the Pan-Am games.

 

The results were fantastic, but expected according to President of the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPF) Peter Greene. “We’ve been working towards this since 2008”. He added that with more persons taking up the sport, some may be tempted to take short cuts hence the move to introduce drug testing in the near future to ensure that the sport remains drug free.