By Akanimo Kufre
Founder of ‘Making of Champions’, and organiser of the MTN Champs athletics talent hunt, Bambo Akani, was impressed by the quality of the athletes the event has unfolded and hopes to extend the success story.
Akani shared his aspirations at the Grand finale of the MTN Champs, which ended at the Abuja National Stadium on Sunday with excitement and new record holders.
“Our athletes have won over 70 national and international medals in the last seven years. 12 of them now are in the US Collegiate systems on full scholarships. With MTN Champs, we expect that to multiply over the next four to five years. And we expect the bulk of these athletes to make up a large portion of the Nigerian Olympics team in 2028.”
The Jamaican school athletics model that produces the likes of Usain Bolt and other track kings and queens for the island county inspired the Making of Champions events.
Akani was also delighted to observe that “there are talents everywhere”, in Nigeria having had competitions in the north, south, east, and western parts of Nigeria.
At Sunday’s final, strong legs and ambitious minds were discovered to rule the tracks for Nigeria given adequate training.
In the U14 Boys 200m finals, Abdulrahman Saleh won the Bronze Fervent, Imoh took the Silver while Lucky Ebe grabbed the Gold medal.
For the U17 Boys 200m, Eniola Shiro won gold, Hamza Dalhatu took silver and Kehinde Ojo settled for bronze.
In the female U20 finals, Rosemary Edet won three gold medals in 100m, 200m and 4×100 relay. Another sensational female discovery was Miracle Ezechukwu who won gold in Youth Girls 100m.
The event organisers announced 20 top finishers in the meet. However, only10 will be selected for full sponsorship by the major sponsors MTN in the Making of Champions Academy. 90 schools presented 784 athletes for the Abuja finals plus 43 MVPs to produce an exciting grand finale.