The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) says all hands are on deck towards achieving a memorable outing at the Tokyo Olympics in July/August.
President of the federation, Honourable Olamide George made the promise following the unveiling of AFN’s 2020 programme of activities in Abuja.
George says the programme was designed to bring life back into the sport that has suffered from maladministration in recent years. ‘We have made athletes the focus of our programme and have designed one that will ensure they attain optimum performance level for both the African Championships and the Olympics,’said George.
The AFN president says the athletes will begin running, throwing and jumping from next month with the All-Comers competition in Akure. ‘We have secured the venue and will provide accommodation for athletes based on last year’s performance. There will be no prize money for this because it is an All-Comers affair,’explained AFN president who revealed that prize monies will be introduced at the Classics proper beginning from the first AFN Classics in Ado Ekiti at the end of February
. ‘We are bringing back the Classics,our annual series of elite athletics competitions which produced so many champions for Nigeria in the past. So far we have four legs of the competition and we are looking to see if we can add a fifth,’he said and revealed that the AFN Classics after the National Sports Festival will be used to evaluate athletes’ performances for the Olympics.
‘ We will use the National Sports Festival to invite athletes to our African Championship and Olympics camp. After that the AFN Classics will be used to evaluate their performances. We know there are athletes who may not reach peak form at the Festival and the AFN Classics will give these athletes the opportunity to get into our pre-African Championships and Olympics camp.’. .
