The Chief Executive Officer for Discovery Brands, Uche Nwankwo, yesterday said that the 2nd Lagos Beach Olympics would come up in April.
Nwankwo told newsmen in Lagos that plans were underway for another edition with a target of surpassing the maiden edition which saw 24 clubs jostling for honours.
“We are working on the modalities for organising the 2018 edition of the Lagos Beach Olympics which will bring out the best of over 500 participants competing for honours at the Eko Atlantic City.
“We are bringing more exciting games than the initial 10 games and will extend invitation to more clubs that will surpass the 24 clubs that participated in the maiden edition.
“We want to have a fun-filled event that will be a beehive of activities and at the end will be the mother of all events in Nigeria,’’ Nwankwo said.
According to him, the 2017 edition was a huge financial success for those who participated and those who came to sell their goods and wares.
“We recorded good financial success and we could not have achieved that but for our sponsors who backed the initiative.
“We also gave out good financial rewards to participants to the tune of N2.8 million and the reports we received from the participants are inspiring.
“Those who used the opportunity to also market their products also said they were well received by the spectators who came to watch and have fun.
“We are very mindful of the financial benefits the Games can bring and this is why we are looking for more sponsors to key in to the programme,’’ he said.
Tidesports source reports that at the end of the first edition, medals were awarded to the best clubs, while the best team went home with N1.5 million.
The runners-up and the third placed club went home with N750, 000 and N500, 000 respectively and the organiser also promised to up the prices accordingly.
The 10 games that made the first edition a memorable experience for the participants were categorised into three: sand sports, speed sports and strength sports.
The sand sports are Volleyball, Wheel-barrow race, High Jump, Long Jump, and Triple Jump.
The strength games are Beach Put, Drag Race, Sumo Wrestling, Truck Tyre Race and Tug of War and lastly the speed games are made up of 50m Sprint.
Others are 100m Sprint, 4X50m Relay, 50m Backward Sprint and 50m Sack Race.
The 10 teams comprised both male and female members that participated, and were named after the core areas of Lagos namely Agege, Ajah, Ajengunle, Festac, Ikeja, Lagos Island, Lekki, Oshodi, Surulere and Yaba.
