Meseret Defar, Tirunesh Dibaba, Vivian Cheruiyot, Olusoji Fasuba, Caster Semenya and many more great African athletes are to be inducted into the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Hall of Fame during the African Athletics Gala on 31 July in Asaba, Nigeria.
Other announced inductees include three-time African Triple jump champion Tosin Oke, 2014 Commonwealth Blessing Okagbare, and other members of Team Nigeria’s 4x200m quartet that won gold at the 2016 IAAF World Relay in The Bahamas – Dominique Duncan, Regina George and Christy Udoh.
Apart from former Olympics and World Champions Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar, other Ethiopians on the list include world record-holder and Olympic champions Genzebe Dibaba, Almaz Ayana and long distance legend Kenenisa Bekele.
South Africa duo of Caster Semenya and Wayde van Niekerk, both Olympics and World Champions, and Kenyans Vivian Cheruiyot, David Rudisha and Ezekiel Kemboi will also be inducted.
This awards will be bestowed on inductees at the welcome dinner for athletes and officials participating at the 21st CAA African Athletics Championships, Asaba 2018.
The event, organized by CAA and Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency is slated for 5pm on 31 July at the Event Centre in Asaba.
The State Governor His Excellency Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, IAAF President Sebastian Coe, CAA President and members of his executive committee, top government officials at Federal and State level, diplomats and the LOC led by its Chairman Solomon Ogba will grace the occasion.
Volunteers, Groundsmen undergo training and screening
Meanwhile, the Security subcommittee for the 21st African Senior Athletics Championships has begun background and security checks on volunteers that have indicated interest to be part of CAA Asaba 2018.
The Security Chief for CAA Asaba 2018, Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama (Rtd) revealed that over 3000 individuals were present to undergo the preliminary stage of the screening process on Monday.
He revealed that background and security checks are being carried out on the intending volunteers as his committee is out to select capable hands that would further help in the planned event.
“The screening for the volunteers commenced today, over 3,000 are being screened and the makeup is all-encompassing across the state, across the country and some civil servants,” Nesiama said in a statement issued by Olukayode Thomas, LOC Head of Media and Publicity.
No cap has been put on the number of volunteers to be selected though it is understood that at least a thousand will be required to join forces with the officials to make a success of the Asaba 2018 championships
“Yes, we were prepared for the large turnout, but I was a bit surprised also because people are ready and willing to do true volunteering in the real sense of it; the people who have indicated interest are genuinely ready to work not for any personal gain but to contribute their quota to this historic event,” Nesiama added.
It is understood that the volunteers will be working in different areas as some will be assisting the Technical committee, some would be in protocol/ushering and a lot of them will be attached to the teams as attaches.
In the same vein, there was also a training exercise on Monday for groundsmen that would be in charge of the Wednesday’s African tour event as well as the African championships proper.
The training exercise was supervised by Yussuf Alli, the technical head for CAA Asaba 2018.
The 21st CAA African Senior Athletics Championships will be taking place at the newly-built Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.
Meet The Authors
Mr Eludini is a Nigerian-based journalist and news researcher with a passion for athletics and football. Tunde is a staff reporter for Premium Times newspaper, and also a regular contributor to AthleticsAfrica.
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