Okagbare and Nigeria’s relay team

No fewer than 50 foreign-based athletes have arrived in the country ahead of the All-Nigeria Championships scheduled for July 7 to July 9 in Sapele, Delta.

Olukayode Thomas, Head of Media and Communications, Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), who announced their arrival in a statement on Sunday in Lagos, said the competition would serve as Olympic trials.

The statement added that the athletes who will represent the country at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil would emerge from the championships which that would be keenly-contested.

“The athletes have started arriving to show the zeal they have to represent this country.

“Over 50 of them paid for their flight tickets to be part of the All-Nigeria Championships,’’ it said.

The statement also confirmed that the cream of Nigerian athletics, including Blessing Okagbare, Gloria Asumnu and Seye Ogunlewe among others would compete in Sapele.

It said the championships would hold from July 7 to July 8 at the Sapele Township Stadium, and will be closely followed by the Confederation of Africa Athletics (CAA) Championships.

It further said that the Grand Prix and the Warri Relays would hold on July 9 at the same venue.

It added that the relay teams from South Africa, Botswana, Ghana and other parts of the world have signified their interest to be part of the Warri events.