• AFN picks junior athletes for Africa/World championships

THE list of foreign athletes for the 2013 Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Golden Grand Prix Warri, Delta State, is on the increase, as top runners from Ethiopia, Kenya and Mauritius have joined the race.

The Technical Department of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), released a list of foreign stars who signified their interest in competing in the championship earlier in the week. They include athletes from Great Britain, Jamaica and the United States of America (U.S.A). The CAA Golden Grand Prix in Warri will hold on June 14.

As at Wednesday, the list had swell up with Ethiopian 5,000m women runner, Almaz Ayana and Mauritius women long jumper, Ghiziana Siba joining the race.

The Ethiopian has a Personal Best time of 14:57.97 seconds in the 5,000m race while Siba (Mauritius) has a Personal Best of 1.80meter in the women high jump. A male javelin thrower from Egypt, Ihab Abdul Rahman has also signified interest in the competition. He has a Personal Best of 81.84meter in javelin.

The long jump event for men seems to have contenders so far with athletes from Egypt, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria already listed.

If pre-championship performance should count, Nigeria’s Stanley Gbagbeke with a Personal Best of 8.20 meter, will be the man to beat in this event. Egypt’s Mohammed Fathallah Deif Allah with a Personal Best of 8.19 meters is on the list.

Another Nigerian athlete on the list is Samson Idiata. He has a Personal Best of 7.98m and Season Best of 7.84m.

Athletes from Fiji Island, Ghana, Ethiopia and Nigeria are expected to do battle in the men’s relay event.

The Technical Director of the AFN, Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama had said earlier in the week that Great Britain’s male sprinter Rion Pierre and Matthieu Pritchett of U.S.A. had signified interest in the Warri 2013 CAA Grand Prix.

The British runner has a Personal Best of 10.14 seconds and Season’s Best of 10.19 seconds, while the American holds a Personal and Season’s Best of 10.28 sec.

The AFN yesterday organised a trial for junior athletes in Port Harcourt, where the country’s representatives for the Africa Junior championship in South Africa and World Championship in Ukraine were selected. The Africa junior will hold later this month.