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By Neto Baptiste
Manufacturers of International athletics track surfaces, Mondo S.p.A, are due to reassess the World Athletics certified surface at the YASCO Sports Complex by the end of the year.
This is according to a former member of the association and meet director for the recently held National Track & Field Championships, Teddy Daley, who said the Antigua and Barbuda Athletics Association (ABAA) has been informed by the National Olympic Committee (NOC) that the Itali based company could be in Antigua by November to look into concerns regarding sections of the surface.
“What we’ve noticed is that there is a little bit of deterioration with the red lanes. We don’t know why but we believe it has something to do with the chemical for the colouring or something to that effect. The blue lanes seem to be intact and this is something that is really above my pay grade but I happen to know that it has been communicated to Mondo and they will be coming sometime later this year to examine the track. There are some guarantees about the track so all is not lost,” he said.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Daley, who has declared his intentions to seek election as president when the body hosts elections constitutionally due in 2026, said that the end of the year would be the opportune time for the track to receive some much-needed attention.
“That is why it is all about timing and that is why they would have to come at the end of this year so that by the season starts, the track would be back in use. These days the technology they use is very good because they resurfaced the track in Jamaica and it took them a month. It didn’t take that long so they have new techniques that they use now to resurface these tracks so I don’t think that is going to be too much of an issue for us,” he said.
The former national athlete revealed that the body still struggles with the issue of security at the facility as they move to put additional measures in place to dictate proper use by all.
“It is still an issue, not as much as in the past but it is still an issue. Some people just don’t understand that the track is certified by World Athletics and that in order for us to keep our certification, we cannot allow certain activities on the track. Sometimes you talk to people and sometimes you even have to call the police to remove people because they totally refuse to move. They say it’s a government facility; it’s a public track, they have rights to be on there just like anybody else and all these kind of things,” Daley said.
The installation of the Mondo surface was completed in 2021.
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