Riverdale, N.Y. — Jaspers Track and Field legend Aliann Pompey '99 held the Aliann Pompey Invitational in her hometown of Georgetown, Guyana on June 22. The competition featured 15 events and marked the return of grassroots event for the first time since 2019 due to pandemic restrictions and logistical difficulties.
Pompey is enshrined in the Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2009. Most memorably, Pompey took first place in the 400-meter sprint (52.21) at the 2000 NCAA Indoor Track and Field championships, becoming the first individual female national champion in Manhattan history. Pompey later competed in the World Championships and went on to compete in the Summer Olympics in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 representing Guyana.
Pompey currently serves as the Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at St. John's University. GoJaspers spoke with Pompey following her return from the Aliann Pompey Invitational.
GoJaspers: What inspired you to host your own invitational event in the first place?
Aliann Pompey: We had a number of local competitions in Guyana but there's never been a truly international one. I spent a good amount of time in my professional career wishing that my home crowd could see me compete at a big meet, and I retired without having the opportunity to really have that. So one of the first things that I wanted to do was have this competition where we can see the best Guyanese athletes compete at home and bring everybody else here. I feel like so many other countries have that luxury, going to school in the US and competing all over the world.
GJ: What about hosting the event in your home country of Guyana made it so special?
AP: There's a tremendous amount of pride that I have in being Guyanese and where I'm from and what I was able to accomplish. And one of the things that keeps me involved is that I really believe that we're so talented, we're under-resourced, we're sometimes under-managed. But if you give us an opportunity to kind of level the playing field a little bit, and we [Guyanese athletes] thrive. I feel like a large part of my success was because of where I'm from and the experiences that I had in Guyana set me up to be able to achieve the things that I achieved at Manhattan College. I felt that many people opened the door for me. I found a way that I can also give back and give other people an opportunity. I owe the universe to the people that helped me out, especially at Manhattan College.
GJ: How challenging was it to organize a large Track and Field event while in another country?
AP: It's always very tough. I work full time here in the US. There are international sanctions and rules, then after you get to a certain point in the planning it becomes a full-time job. You have to get officials, you've got to get international technical delegates, you've got to organize what the media coverage is going to look like. And we haven't had it [the invitational] since the pandemic. It was mostly because of travel restrictions that were in place from 2020-2022, so the last invitational that took place was actually in 2019. Then last year [2023] we couldn't have it because of the conditions of the track. So it was almost like starting over this year.
GJ: How does an athlete get invited to compete in the Aliann Pompey Invitational?
AP: Guyanese athletes have senior national trials two weeks before the invitational, so the winners of those events automatically would be invited to the competition. After that we work with agents, we work with some of the sport federations in different countries in the region and wherever we want people to be represented and we invite them. Ultimately we're trying to draw crowds, both in person in Guyana and now that we've streamed it live for the first time, internationally as well. So the focus is trying to get the high level athletes to be able to come together and compete.
GJ: How many athletes who participated have also qualified for the Summer Olympics in Paris?
AP: This year there are two Guyanese athletes that are going on to the olympics that competed at the invitational…. the young lady that won the 400-meter sprint [Aliyah Abrams] and the guy that won the long jump [Emanuel Archibald].
GJ: Were there any events at the invitational that you were especially excited to watch?
AP: I shouldn't say this as a head coach, but I'm always partial to the 400 meters. It will always hold a special place in my heart. I just remember doing a lot throughout the competition because I'm a little bit of a perfectionist and I wanted things to go as smoothly as possible and we put out a product that everyone can be proud of. But I remember just freezing everything when the 400s were on the track.
GJ: What do you hope the athletes would gain from competing at this event?
AP: The purist in me always says that I want them to come together and I want them to compete well and have fun, fond memories of it. But personally, I want them to enjoy Guyana. I think it's a beautiful place, I think it's a very supportive culture. We understand the sport, we love the sport and the Guyanese public cheers for good competition. I want them [the athletes] to have a good time in Guyana and I want it to be memorable for them.
GJ: How did your time at Manhattan College influence you as an athlete?
AP: It was my foundation and it remained a large part of my professional career. I always trained at Manhattan College. I was in Draddy for 10 years after I graduated. My college coach [Joe Ryan] was my professional coach and my mentor. To this day, I still call him for everything. It kind of remained home in a lot of ways. I'm on the Hall of Fame committee right now, and whenever I'm tapped or asked to do something for the college I still do it because it was truly a valuable experience. Every once in a while, I think back about the decisions that I've made and whether it was right or not, it's something that I've never regretted. I still have a lot of the friends that I've made there and we've helped each other through a lot, we've always supported each other.
