Twenty states from across the country have registered to participate in the fifth National Triathlon Championship slated to hold at the National Stadium, Lagos from May 4 to 6.
Speaking on the competition on Tuesday, Nigeria Triathlon Union (NTU) President, Dr. Lanre Glover said the federation was expecting over 130 players and officials to arrive in Lagos on May 4, adding that all the athletes registered for the tournament and their coaches would be briefed on the rules of the sport before the tournament commences.
He added that there would be a course familiarisation tour to make the participants understand the routes they would use during the games. Highlighting the federation’s target, which, he said, is to discover more talents that would represent Nigeria at the global level, Glover explained that one of the impediments facing the development of triathlon is lack of standard facilities to train athletes.
He called on the government to help the federation by providing adequate facilities, saying that it would push the athletes to raise the standard of their various sports.
“The championship will be divided into two categories, youth male and female and the elite cadres. In this championship, we will operate the full triathlon, which is swim, bike and run, as well as Duathlon, which involves running, biking and running.
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“We will also do the sprint distance and not full distance. Triathlon athletes would cover 500 meters swimming, 10 kilometres bike and five kilometres run. For duathlon, there would be five kilometres run, 10 kilometres bike, five kilometres run.
“The total price money for the event is N400,000 for the Elite and the Youth.
The youth prize money was donated by the NOC president, Habu Gumel, while the prize for the elite was donated by Linkage Assurance Plc., our long standing partner.”
Glover revealed that the prizes would go to the first, second and third positions in the male and female categories, adding that apart from the 20 states, some private cycling clubs would also feature in the event.
The president also disclosed that the NTU would host an Olympic Solidarity Coaching course in Port Harcourt, where 25 coaches from different parts of the country would learn the modern trends in the sport.
He listed Kamoli Amao, Garba Musa, Moses Omozusi, Bello Orogho, Abdulmumeen Mohammad, Timothy Aniagolu, Korutimi Pabor (F), Femi Thomas, Abass Mustapha, Miebaka Aggo, Mohammed Musa and Abiodun Ojomo as some of the participants expected at the event.
Others are Tari Jasper Peter, Omoleye Abiodun Emmanuel, Titiloye Badmus, Tilije Sunday, Vero Ndukwe (f), Ememobong Samuel Jasimiel, Johnson Allen, Agbonogo Modupeola, Nkechi Ofondu (f), Shola Duyi, Joy Wachukwu (f), Blessing Harrison, Iyo
Tamunosepriye Aggo (f) and Bassey Nelson.
Source: G Sport
