Over 655 athletes across the country from the registered 24 clubs turned up for the first leg of the maiden Lagos Athletics Club Series held yesterday at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) Sports Complex in Lagos.
The four-leg athletics championships was put together by the Lagos State Athletics Association (LSAA) as the venue was thronged by some top athletes across the country.
According to LSAA Technical Director, Enefiok Udo-Obong, the turn-out was impressive for the first leg while hoping that more athletes would join up as the tournament moves to the second leg next month.
Former national 100m champion Enoch Adegoke and national women 400m champion Patience Okon-George were among the star athletes that competed at the one-day tournament with top officials of the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) led by its chairman, Shola Aiyepeku gracing the tournament.
Also, International School, Lagos (ILS) star athlete at their last Inter-house sports competition Femisola Mohammed was among the upcoming athletes that achieved their personal best (PB) at the event as the teenage sensation ran 57.72secs as PB in the women’s 400m while Ada Bright dusted some of the top athletes in one of the finals of the women’s 200m with 24.6secs.
An elated Mohammed described her feat as a motivation for her to work harder. “I am so excited to compete in this competition because I just came to be part of it not expecting to run a PB and I am so happy that I was able to run my PB here for the first time which is a motivation for me to continue to work harder.”
For Okon-George, competing in this kind of tournament would help athletes to assess their readiness for major competitions as well as gauge their fitness for future events. “This is an opportunity for us to assess ourselves because we have training without competing and having this kind of competition would help to know where are and what we need to do to get to where we are going. I think it is a good tournament for all athletes regardless of your status,” the quarter-miller for Udo-Obong Athletics Academy said.
Chairman of LSAA, Solomon Alao said the essence of the tournament was to unearth new talents adding that the idea of the club tournament was to work on the enduring structure in the state as most athletes emerged from clubs. “One of the enduring structures in athletes for us has been the clubs because the clubs will always exist for a long time and using this platform is to continue the legacy that has made the state to be a top athletics state in the country. We also want to ensure that athletes discovered are nurtured to stardom through this kind of platform,” Alao said.