The 2017 edition of the national D.K Olukoya Youth and Junior Championships is to hold on April 7th and 8th in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has confirmed.
The competition was initially fixed for April 7th and 8th, before it was subsequently moved to May 19th and 20th. However, it appears that the organisers have decided to go with the first date listed on the calendar.
While speaking about the suddenness of the competition with Making of Champions, AFN Technical Director Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama (Rtd) stated that the federation decided to bring the date backwards in order to kick-start the selection process ahead of the major international Youth and Junior competitions billed to hold this year.
He said: “We want to do well at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Kenya and the African Juniors, so we decided that it would be good for us to commence preparations early so as to have an edge. We have the right facilities at the High Performance Centre so we decided to take advantage of them. Selected athletes will resume camping immediately after the trials.”
The 2016 edition of the championships held at the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos, with the major highlight being Raymond Ekevwo’s stunning run of 10.36s in the 100m.
A number of Youth and Junior Championships will be holding this year including the African Juniors in Algeria set for June; the IAAF World Juniors in Kenya in July, and the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas, also in July.
It remains unclear as to whether the African Youth Championships will still hold this year as the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) is still looking for a host for the competition.
The D.K Olukoya Championships has now been rescheduled for Monday, April 10th, but will still hold in Port Harcourt.
