The Indian Arrival Committee (IAC) on Saturday afternoon honoured Guyana’s youngest world powerlift ing champion, 18-year-old Gumendra Shewdas, with a monetary award of Gy$ 500,000 and a plaque during a ceremony at the Tej Mohall Shopping Complex in Number 79 Village Corriverton, Berbice.
Also making a presentation to the star lifter at Saturday’s event was the Corriverton branch of the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI). The management and staff of Tej Mohall Shopping Complex also used the opportunity to recognise the monumental achievement of Shewdas.
Among those in attendance at the event was Natural Resources Minister, Robert Persaud, who is also the patron of the IAC. In brief remarks, he applauded the efforts of the young Berbician.
Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who has parliamentary responsibilities for Region Six, also graced the occasion, along with Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party and former chairman of Region Six, Zulfikar Mustapha.
Region Six chairman David Armogan applauded the IAC for the gesture and noted that other organisations in the region will also be honouring the Berbice hero, who has made all Guyanese proud.
The ceremony was also attended by Shewdas’ immediate family, officials of the IAC and members of the business community in Berbice.
Shewdas, who has earned the alias “Golden Boy”, returned home a few weeks ago from the World Junior and Sub Junior Powerlifting Championships in Killeen, Texas, U. S. A, with a gold medal in the 53kg class.
In the process, he became Guyana’s youngest world champion in any sport discipline.
Shewdas’ best squat of 180kg and bench press of 90kg were below U. S. A’s Dalton La Coe’s 182.5kg (squat), 105kg (bench press) heading into the deadlifts, but a huge lift of 205kg on his second attempt thrust the Guyanese into the lead.
With Shewdas holding the psychological advantage, La Coe could only muster a lift of 137.5kg and failed twice at 192.5kg.
Russia’s Alexei Kulakov was third with a total of 412.5kg.
