Over 500 athletes will participate at the 2nd Making of Champions (MoC) Grand Prix slated to hold from June 15th to 16th at the Sports Complex of the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos State.
The 2nd MoC Grand Prix is the second domestic competition organised for Nigerian Senior/Elite athletes this season, following the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) All-Comers Meet held in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, on April 5th.
The competition will provide an opportunity for Nigerian athletes to showcase their readiness for the upcoming African Games and World Championships.
Having had no competition for two months, the Grand Prix is to provide home-based athletes with a chance to compete before the National Trials which has now been scheduled for July 22nd to 27th in Kaduna.
The MoC had partnered with the AFN to ensure that the races would be electronically timed, ratified by the AFN
and recognised globally by the IAAF. The event promises to be an exciting ‘Gathering of Champions’ as many athletes are expected to hit the qualifying times for the African Games and who knows, possibly the World
Championships in Doha and the 2020 Olympics as well.
MoC Founder/CEO Bambo Akani says it is necessary to provide Nigerian athletes with an opportunity to run electronic times, which could, in turn, improve their world rankings.
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“We all know that competitions in Nigeria have been few and far between this season; there’s only been one senior event and the athletes need a chance to compete. We felt that it was imperative that we create that opportunity; it’s already mid-season and not much has happened. That was really the reason that we said lets have this 2nd MoC Grand Prix,” Akani said.