Nigerian Masters athletes win African Championships

Nigeria’s representatives at the just concluded African Masters Athletics Championships in Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesday said they were delighted to have done the country proud at the event.

Nigeria, represented by no fewer than 16 athletes at the championships, came first by winning 31 gold and eight silver medals.

The athletes arrived in Nigeria on Aug. 29 from the championships held from Aug. 25 to Aug.27.

One of the athletes, Safiya Yahaya-Kongoila, who represented the country for the first time, told NAN that she was delighted to have won four gold medals for the country.

Yahaya-Kongoila said that she was looking forward to the World Masters Championship in 2018.

Also, Uruemu Adu, the Secretary, Nigerian Athletics Masters, thanked the Nigeria Police for supporting the masters athletes.

“The athletes were well-supported and motivated to do well by DCP Aliyu Abubakar, the Police Sports Officer, who is also the Team Manager.

“The Team Coach, ASP Solomon Aliyu, was on ground to see that the athletes were well-warmed up and pep up before their events,” he said.

Cote d’Ivoire came second, winning 15 gold, nine silver and four bronze medals, followed by Tunisia with five gold medals.

Countries that featured at the event were Algeria, Barbados, Egypt, Burundi, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Germany, Mauritius, Tunisia, Nigeria, and Gabon.

In the 2016 edition of the championships, Nigeria came second winning 30 gold, six silver, and three bronze medals.

The next edition of the African Masters Athletics Championships is scheduled for Dec. 8 to Dec. 9, 2018, in Tunis, Tunisia.

Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for veteran athletes in the track and field events, road running and cross country running.