The Making of Champions sponsored competition, Top Sprinter, is back bigger and better with its second edition which is set to hold from September 29 to October 1 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
Making of Champs as they are fondly known, started a project last year to find the next generation of Olympians. The project was welcomed by athletes all over the country as the Top Sprinter auditions were taking around four cities in Nigeria.
The train took off from Lagos to Ibadan to Enugu and Benin City. Four Olympic medalists, Deji Aliu, Glory Alozie, Francis Obikwelu and Uchenna Emedolu were celebrity judges at the auditions to select top notch athletes to represent their teams in The Lagos Finals. At the end of the 3-Day meet, Team Aliu was crowned the overall winner. High point of the company’s ‘Reality TV style’ Top Sprinter auditions last year was when the initiative caught the attention of an International renowned media outfit, BBC’s Sportshour leading to an EXCLUSIVE interview with MoC Founder/CEO, Bambo Akani, Top Sprinter Head Coach Deji Aliu and a couple of athletes, Eseroghene Oguma and Ruth Usoro.
Some athletes were selected and sponsored to all the domestic athletics competition in 2016. The company is looking forward to pick more young athletes from this year’s edition to add to these sponsored athletes. In addition to sponsoring all their athletes to competitions, MoC is currently handling the housing, feeding & education of some of their athletes as necessary
This year, the leading sports company in Africa has decided to go an extra mile in gifting monetary and kits rewards to athletes who perform well at this year competition.
Athletes would compete in Senior, Junior (U-20) and Youth (U-17) categories- the best Juniors and Youth athletes discovered at this edition will be recruited into the 2016 class of the MoC Track Club!
Athletes in the Senior category will compete in just three events – the men and women’s 100m, 200m and 400m – and there are mouthwatering cash prizes up for grabs, as each Top Sprinter 2016 Champion will be awarded ₦50,000, while 2nd and 3rd place finishers will earn ₦30,000 and ₦20,000 respectively. In fact, every single finalist (the Top 8 in each Senior event) will receive their portion of a total Senior cash prize kitty of over ₦800,000!
The Junior and Youth athletes will each participate in over 10 events cutting across the Sprints, Hurdles, Jumps & Throws in both Boys’ and Girls’ categories (subject to enough athletes registering for each event). The winners will go home with gifts which include Spike Shoes, Top Sprinter branded Speed suits and T-Shirt!
Speaking on the new development, MoC CEO, Bambo Akani said, “It’s been a tough year for Nigerian athletes so we decided to reward some of the country’s best athletes for their efforts. Those who were at the Olympics would be able to compete against others who need a big competition to round up their 2016 Season.”
Calling on corporate bodies, he said, ” Our hope is to award all MoC Track Club Athletes with 4-year Scholarships to start training for the next Olympics right here in Nigeria. We’re calling on Corporate Nigeria to support our mission to develop Nigeria’s next generation of Olympic Medallists. This Scholarship is the first of it’s kind in Nigeria – this is how Champions are made in Jamaica, USA and all over the world.”
Interested athletes who wish to compete at the 2016Top Sprinter competition in Lagos from September 29 – Oct 1 should log unto ” http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TopSprinter2016 ” to register before the registration deadline on Sunday September 25th. It is mandatory that all athletes MUST register online to be added to the Startlist(s) for their chosen event(s) at the Competition.
Do note, unlike last year’s edition , athletes WOULD NOT BE sponsored to the competition but are encouraged to turn out in their large numbers in what is expected to be an exciting, interesting and an unforgettable experience. See you there!
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