Young athletes battle at Channels track/field classics

Young athletes from over 50 secondary schools in Lagos State will converge at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos for the second edition of the Channels Track and Field Classics today. 

More schools will be part of this year’s event according to the technical director of the tournament, Henry Amike. He said the event was aimed at discovering more talented athletes that will represent Nigeria at future international championships.

“We want to use these classics to restore our lost glory in athletics. It usually takes about five years to train athletes to stardom. We are projecting that athletes discovered from these classics will represent Nigeria at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France,” Amike said 

This year’s competition is expected to be an improvement on that of last year where key talents like Fatola Adedoyin and Alimat Alowonle were discovered. They went on to represent Nigeria at the Africa Youth Games.

Invited secondary school students from both the private and public sectors across the six (6) educational districts of Lagos State are expected to attend the two-day meet meant for athletes who are below 17 years. 

Events to feature in the competition include 100, 200,400 and 800 metres races. Others are the 4X100 and 4X400 relay races, long jump, high jump and short put. 

The aim of the competition is to scout, discover and develop talents that abound in the secondary school system. 

About 49 secondary schools took part in last year’s inaugural championship, which recorded some outstanding results.