About 800 athletes including the 42 most Valuable Performers who emerged from three previous locations will begin to burn the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja tracks today, jostling for honours in the grand finale of MTN CHAMPS athletics fiesta, Completesports.com reports.
The schools’ competition will be concluded on Sunday, December 3 2023. The competition in the fourth and final leg began in October with athletes drawn from various secondary schools across the country held in Benin City, Ibadan and Uyo in three categories; cadet, youth and juniors.
While addressing the media in Abuja on Wednesday, the Chief Marketing Officer of MTN, Adia Sohwo said the Telecom giants are excited to be sponsoring the event aimed at unearthing and fostering talented athletes and developing them.
Also Read: 2024 WAFCONQ: Abiodun Dedicates POTM Award To Super Falcons Teammates
“I am so delighted at the level of competition on display across the first three locations of MTN CHAMPS and I am looking forward to an exciting climax here in Abuja. It is the finale week and it’s been an exciting few weeks going to different parts of the country to experience athletics competitions and lots of national pride,” Sowho stated
Bambo Akani also revealed the circumstances that led to the birth of MTN CHAMPS.
“This has been a journey that started about 10 years ago for making of champions. When we saw that there was a gap in the Nigerian calendar. We needed something to fill that gap. The numbers we recorded during the previous legs show that MTN has touched something; they touched on the hunger for competition and the performance of the athletes has been unprecedented,” Akani said.
The representative of AFN, Rita Mosindi while commending the MOC for the wonderful job they have been doing, urged that anti-doping lectures should be part of the events to let the young athletes know the dangers of doping to excel.
By Richard Jideaka, Abuja
