June 3, 2021
By: Mohamed Abu Conteh
The Sierra Leone National Athletics Senior & Junior Team has ended a successful Championship in Kaduna, Nigeria where they won seven (7) medals.
Although the team arrived late for the Championship they were able to raise the green White and Blue flag at the Championship. So many factors were responsible for the team`s late arrival which caused a huge loss on the entire team, as they missed out in some events.
According to Media Representative at the Kaduna games the team, despite the late arrival, six athletes won the sevens medals and the other athletes won the remaining four medals in the mix double.
Jane Kargbo won two medals both in the 1500 meters while other four athletes won the remaining four medals.
Some of the athletes were stranded in Ghana as they were unable to make it to the Championship.
A total of 35-man delegation made the trip to the Championship, as athletes from Sierra Leone and outside the Country were convened for the tournament.
According to some of the athletes, the late arrival caused them huge loss as some were unable to make it to the Championship. It should be noted that some of them have been in an intensive training for the past three months just for them to make it to the Championship.
They are calling on the Government to put more emphasis on other Sporting disciplines as according to them, more focus is sometimes given to Football and we are yet to qualify for the African Cup of Nations since 1996 when the Country last qualified for a major Tournament.
The Government of Sierra Leone gives the funding through the Ministry of Sports in collaboration with the National Sports Authority to help the Sierra Leone Athletics Association to represent the Country.
Athletes however expressed special thanks to the Government for helping them to represent the country in an international Championship. They noted that they were confident of winning medals, because they have been in an intensive training for over three months and they are poised to bringing more medals back home. Their last outing was in Ghana in the regional championship where they won seven medals.