The 7th Daniel Olukoya Youth and Junior Championships will be held at the High-Performance Centre in Port Harcourt on Saturday, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) said on Sunday. Olukayode Thomas, AFN’s Head of Media and Communication, disclosed in a statement that participating club and state athletes were expected to arrive on Friday.
“On arrival, the athletes would be screened at the competition venue. Only athletes who passed the screening exercise would be allowed to take part in this year’s championships,’’ he said. Thomas said AFN was doing this because it was keen on maintaining set standards to discourage over-aged athletes from competing in its age-grade competitions.
“We are ready for this year’s D.K. Olukoya Championships which will be taking place in Port Harcourt for the first time. “We have again put in place adequate measures to ensure that only athletes that fall within the age bracket can compete,” he said. Thomas added that a keen contest was expected in Port Harcourt as the championships would be used to select athletes who would represent Nigeria at the African Junior Championships.
The African Junior Championships is scheduled for June 29 to July 2 in Algeria. “AFN will also be using the Olukoya Championships to aid its selection of athletes to represent the country at the World Youth Championships and Commonwealth Youth Games,’’ the AFN spokesman added. The two competitions are taking place in Kenya and the Bahamas respectively later this year.
