AFN releases 2017 Athletics Calendar

Here is the official calendar of events for the 2017 Track and Field season, as released by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

Going by the calendar, the season will commence fully in April with the D.K Olukoya U-18 Championships, Mt. Sac and Penn Relays, AFN All-Comers Competition, and the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas.

The AFN Golden League as highlighted in the calendar, is to comprise of four legs and is scheduled to commence with the first meet in Abuja in May, while venues for subsequent legs of the competition are yet to be determined.

Ahead of the biggest global competition competition in 2017, referring to the 16th edition of the IAAF World Championships billed to take centre stage in London in August, the National Trials will be holding from July 6 to 8 at a yet to be determined venue.

However, if last year’s National Championships are anything to go by, the event may eventually take place in Sapele, Delta State, where the 2016 Rio Olympics Trials held.

The World U-18 Championships will be staged on the African continent four days later, as Kenya hosts the competition from July 12 to 16. Incidentally, this will be the final edition of the championship, with international federations expected to focus more on continental championships in the near future.

Considering that various national federations will be concentrating  fully on the upcoming elections slated to hold within the first half of the year, many stakeholders have expressed concern as to the possibility of implementing the 2017 schedule of events.

That notwithstanding, executing the listed programmes as outlined, and even improving on them is not too much to ask for should the incoming AFN board comprise of the right set of people who could inspire positive change and the development of Track and Field in Nigeria.