The maiden Zaria Athletics Grand Prix kicked off on Wednesday with a lot of pomp and pageantry.
At the opening ceremony, the meet directors of the Zaria Athletics Grand Prix, Mr. Sunday Adeleye tasked the technical officials at the two day event to put up a garment of professionalism while encouraging them to bring into play equity and fairness as they work.
In his words; “I know some of you are part of the teams or athletes in these Grand Prix. For now, I will say you have no business with the athlete, you are required to bring in equity and fairness into your work.”
He added that the athletes have been training without competitions but the Grand Prix will give them the opportunity to test their fitness level.
“The Grand Prix is meant to prepare Nigeria athletes for the All African Games, Olympics and other major events. We are partners in progress with the Ministry of Youth and Sport Development,” he said.
In the number of participating athletes and countries participating, he said over 700 hundred athletes were invited but only about 500 athletes came because of the cashless policy. He added that Nigeria universities sent in their athletes while three countries were in Zaria for the race.
Adeleye encouraged schools and parents to bring their wards for the two-day events taking place at the Ahmadu Bello University Sport Complex.
“We have an invitation relay for secondary schools and we believe it will help encourage the upcoming athletes,” he added.
The athletes will be competing in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, Shot Put, Triple jump, 4x 100 and 4×400 all for both men and women.
Winners in the different races will cart home N100, 000, N75, 000 and N50, 000 respectively.