Guyana’s athletes have secured more than 1,000 international and regional medals over the past three years, a milestone Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. says reflects the results of sustained investment and expanded opportunities for training and competition.
Making his contribution to the 2026 budget debate in the National Assembly on Thursday, Ramson highlighted the medal haul and a series of developments in the country’s sporting sector, including infrastructure upgrades, increased international participation and expanded funding for teams and associations.
“Importantly as well, we started tracking and measuring how many medals our athletes started to secure. They have never been tracked before. In the last three years alone, we have secured over 1,000 international and regional medals by our athletes. That is the history,” the minister said.
He added that athletes are now performing at a higher level than before. “Athletes are doing better now than they have ever done before under the People’s Progressive Party leadership.”
Ramson told the House that the ministry will spend another $1.2 billion on community grounds this year, noting that over the last five years, 145 grounds across the country were lit, far exceeding the original target.
“They set us a target of 25. We did 145 grounds,” he said.
The minister also pointed to the establishment of a national sports academy for the first time in Guyana, with programmes categorized into core and non-core sports. According to him, stronger relationships have been built with sporting associations, many of which have expressed support for the ministry’s programmes and budget because of the benefits received.
He said hosting international events locally has also played a major role in athlete development and exposure.
“In 2024, we held 29 international sporting events in this country and last year it was 33. They don’t even understand how difficult that is… To do 33 international sporting events in a country, that is more than one every other week,” Ramson said.
He explained that the events are helping to drive sports tourism and provide athletes with higher levels of competition and coaching. “That is driving tourism into our country. Development of athletes. Development of talent so that they can get exposure to higher levels of competition, better levels of coaching.”
The minister further noted the increase in overseas participation by local teams. He said teams left Guyana 36 times in 2023, 73 times in 2024, and 102 times in 2025, supported by more than $1 billion in spending on associations and teams over the last five years.
“We have spent over a billion dollars on sports associations and teams leaving this country in the last five years,” he said.
