President of the Barbados Cycling Union (BCU), Omar Beckles has lauded the record breaking performance of Arielle Greaves at the Pan American Junior Track Cycling championships in Mexico.
Competing in the flying 200 metres on Wednesday, Greaves clocked 11.319 seconds to set a new national junior record, obliterating the old mark of 11.800 seconds, which she set last year in Peru.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Beckles praised Greaves’ stellar performance.
“Speaking on behalf of the executive, I have to say I’m extremely proud of Ariel. When you consider the sacrifice and the level of discipline that Ariel has been showing not just this season, but even from last year.
“If anyone’s been following her progress, you know there’s a lot of sacrifice when someone her age has to travel to a different country just to train,” Beckles said.
Greaves has been training in Trinidad due to the absence of a velodrome in Barbados.
Beckles said he was delighted to see her reaping the results and rewards of her dedication and hard work.
“What she’s been able to do is tremendous. She’s at that level now where we really need to start seriously looking even further at her future, in terms of how do we get her in the space where she can consistently compete against the best so that she can continue to sharpen her skills
“Outside of Europe, she’s basically competing with opponents from Mexico, Colombia and you name it, in terms of the Pan-American basin. This is as strong as the competition will get at her age group. What she was able to do on Wednesday is fantastic,” Beckles said.
He however, cautioned that there is still much room for improvement if Greaves was to become one of the best in the world.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done since there’s a bit of a gap still between her and the Colombian who finished in first place. But again, it just shows that even without all the infrastructure the talent is there.
“You have to be able to look at the big picture. She’s competing against the best in terms of this part of the world. From here now it’s just where the Europeans and the other countries would come into play,” Beckles explained.
Greaves’ success comes on the heels of fellow female rider Amber Joseph, who has represented Barbados with distinction at the senior level for several years.
“Yes Amber is still putting in the work herself and now with Ariel at a much younger age, she still has a lot of room to continue improving,” Beckles added.
The Randolph Field Velodrome at the site of the old National Stadium has been demolished to make way for the new facility, with a new modern venue also slated to be constructed for cycling.
It’s a major undertaking and Beckles says they are awaiting further word.
“We haven’t had any confirmed timelines in terms of when construction will begin, but you would have heard Minister Griffith (Minister of Sport) speak to the plans for the velodrome, which is a facility that will be going at Bushy Park.
“Again we understand that these things take time and as anxious as we are and and can’t wait to have it, we are going to work with the stakeholders and with government so that we have clear plans and government remains committed to supporting the athletes in the short term to ensure that they’re not disadvantaged due to the lack of infrastructure,” Beckles said.
(KH)
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