The battle for medals commenced at the Umuahia Stadium on Friday as about 1,500 young athletes from Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and host state Abia began competing in the CLIMM South-East Under-16 Track and Field Championship.
The events include the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m, relays, javelin, discus, long jump, triple jump, and shot put.
The athletics championship, designed to discover new raw talents from the South-East, also aims to prepare future international athletes for Nigeria.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, Lee Okoroafo, who represented the five former Nigerian athletes sponsoring the event, lamented that although the South-East dominated athletics for Nigeria in the 1980s and 1990s, the region is now “nowhere to be found.”
Okoroafo explained that his organisation, CLIMM, is committed to raising new stars in various athletic disciplines, adding that the initiative also serves to discourage South-East youths from engaging in crime and other deviant activities.
He further noted that several raw talents discovered in previous editions are now competing for Nigerian and international athletic organisations. He expressed gratitude to Governor Alex Otti for hosting the championship.
Earlier, the Abia State Director of Sports, Obioma George, challenged the young athletes from the South-East to seize the opportunity of the championship to become future sporting legends.
He also commended Governor Alex Otti for making Abia “the new home of sports competitions.”