By Avenash Ramzan
Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony believes Gumendra Shewdas’ triumph at the World Junior and Sub-Junior Powerlifting Championships in Killeen, Texas, is a clear indication that local athletes are on par with their counterparts from other parts of the globe.
He made the remark on Monday in the presence of Shewdas and his family and members of the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPF) when the Sport Ministry hosted a luncheon at the New Thriving restaurant to recognise the monumental achievement of the Berbice lifter at last week’s championships.
The 18-year-old Shewdas, who has earned the alias ‘Golden Boy’, returned home with a gold medal in the 53kg Class, in the process, becoming Guyana’s youngest world champion in any sport discipline.
Developmental
programmes
Anthony said of his achievement: “We have seen that our athletes are on par with anything they have out there and that we can excel… and we must not let this kind of victory go to our heads; we have to continue practicing, we have to think about our developmental programmes and our training programmes so that we can churn out more champions.”
Shewdas, of Line Path, Skeldon, recorded 475.5kgs en route to winning the gold medal. His closest rival was U. S. A.’s Dalton La Coe, who finished a distant second with a total of 425kg in the bench press, squat and deadlift.
The minister noted that Shewdas’ accomplishment has raised the bar, as all Guyanese would now have high expectations of all lifters who depart these shores for international and regional competitions.
Shewdas’ success, the minister noted, is enough evidence to prove Guyana’s status as a Caribbean powerhouse in powerlifting.
Anthony added that other countries will be keeping an eye on Guyana’s lifters, thus it is imperative the GAPF work to ensure local athletes maintain a high standard.
With this in mind, the minister assured the GAPF of its full support, adding that included in this year’s budget is funding for the procurement of additional standardised equipment for powerlifting.
The GAPF is slated to host a number of international competitions in 2015 and the equipment will be a massive boost.
Support
Recognising Shewdas’ gigantic effort, president of the GAPF Peter Green said the title could not have been achieved without the support of the ministry.
He said Anthony and Permanent Secretary in the Sport Ministry, Alfred King, came to the aid of the GAPF when a budget in excess of Gy$ 900,000 to send Shewdas and manager/ coach Denroy Livan to the championships seemed beyond the local body.
“This is a proud moment for me and all members of the federation. From humble beginnings in 2008 we have produced champions like ‘Big’ John Edwards, Winston Stoby, Randolph Morgan and now young Gumendra Shewdas. We saw the potential in Gumendra three years ago and we always know he would be a winner some day, but what we didn’t know is that he would be a big winner,” Green related.
Reflecting on his performance, Shewdas, who is also runner-up Junior Sportsman-of- the- Year 2012, said he had spent a lot of time training at the Total Fitness gym in Corentyne, under the guidance of Egbert Jackson, and was confident of taking the top podium spot.
Shewdas’ best squat of 180kg and bench press of 90kg were below 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.
Despite trailing going into the deadlifts, Shewdas said he was convinced he would emerge with the gold medal, as he had strong self-belief.
Shewdas’ father Bhognarine Shewdas expressed his elation at his son’s performance, noting that it means a lot to his family. He noted that Gumendra has been in intense training all year, and his display in Texas is just reward for the hard work he had put in.
The ‘Golden Boy’ and officials of the GAPF also met with President Donald Ramotar at the Office of the President on Monday morning.
