The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has confirmed that its first Golden League meet of the season will be staged this weekend, May 14, at the National Stadium in Abuja.
There had been doubts over where the meet will be held, with Bauchi, a North-West State initially slated to host the inaugural meet for the year. However, the AFN this week approved Abuja to lead off the four-leg series.
Port Harcourt, Ilorin and Akure are the other cities pencilled down to host the remaining meets over the next four weeks.
Last week, the All Comers event was held at the Yaba College of Technology, with athletes turning up in Lagos as they used the opportunity to weigh their readiness for the coming season.
With many aiming to meet qualification standards for the African Athletics Championships in Durban, South Africa and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, there couldn’t have been a better opportunity for athletes to attain these marks, than the Golden League.
Divine Odururu who won the double at the All-Comers in Lagos, will be hoping to do better than his winning time of 10.36s in the 100m, and could be a strong contender for the title this year.
The women’s 100m will be keenly contested amongst Agnes Osazuwa who won last week in 11.51s, Peace Uko, Cecilia Francis, Isoken Igbinosun and particularly Aniekeme Alphonsus who ran the fastest time in the heats, clocking 11.34s.
There will also be contests in both the 200m and 400m, as well as the 400m Hurdles. Martins Ogieriakhi will hope for a better time than his 14.10s in his last outing, when he lines up for the men’s 110m Hurdles, while Grace Ayemoba would hope to consolidate on her victory in the All-Comers in the women’s 100m Hurdles.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games champion, Ese Brume who surprisingly ran the women’s 400m in Lagos last week could return to her regular event, the Long Jump.
There will be other Golden League and Promotional events in the 800m, 1500m and 4x100m relay. The Field events include the men and women’s Triple Jump, Long Jump, Javelin throw, Shot put and others.
