Bigger, better Champs in 2021 - Wehby
Published:Tuesday | June 23, 2020 | 12:30 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
WITH THE disappointment of this year’s postponement of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships still etched in his mind, Don Wehby, group chief executive officer of GraceKennedy, says his organisation will be going all out to ensure that next year’s event is one of the best in history.
The championships, which is widely regarded as the biggest of its kind in the world, was cancelled due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, days before what was supposed to be its 110th staging.
“We were very disappointed,” Wehby told The Gleaner. “This is our largest sponsorship for GraceKennedy anywhere in the world.”
“We were very disappointed, but when you look at what is happening now in the world and what has happened over the last few months with COVID-19, I think that the decision by ISSA, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and all the sponsors was the absolutely correct one to do,” Wehby said.
The executive, who himself competed at the championships, winning 100m gold in 1978 and silver in the 110m and 400m hurdles in 1982, said he was particularly disappointed with the cancellation’s impact on the student athletes, especially those who were preparing for their last championships.
“I felt really sad in terms of the athletes that were in their final-year Class One, because I know some of them use that opportunity to showcase their talent for scholarships and so that was particularly hard for us at GraceKennedy and we recognise that. But you have to put the health of the nation before anything and that is what we did,” Wehby said.
REMAINS THE BEST
Wehby acknowledged that the championships plays a major role in the development of Jamaican athletes and therefore they are committed to ensuring that the event remains the best high-school event in the world.
“Next year as usual is going to be a world-class event and we are looking forward to our sponsorship and working with ISSA to put on a great event,” Wehby said. “It (2021) is going to be super big and we are really looking forward to it and we are going to put 100 per cent of our effort and our resource behind it.”
“Our sponsorship for Champs goes up to 2025 and 2022 is actually GraceKennedy’s 100th anniversary and so we are going to be putting on something very special,” added Wehby.