LAMINE DIACK URGES MORE PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS FROM BEIJING 2015

With just over a month to go before the start of the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, IAAF President Lamine Diack has urged organisers to step up promotional efforts to ensure that the Bird’s Nest Stadium becomes, again, a motivating and inspiring stage for the world’s best athletes.

President Diack, currently in Cali for the IAAF World Youth Championships, is concerned that the advertising and promotional activities in Beijing are too low key.

“I myself visited Beijing for the ‘One Year to Go’ promotional ceremony in August 2014 and I was in Beijing again in March and again in April 2015 to support the promotional effort,” said President Diack. “On both occasions, I reiterated the need to invest properly in the promotional efforts to secure what had been promised to us by the Chinese authorities for this event – 100% capacity for the evening sessions and 30% for morning sessions,” said President Diack. “But at the moment, we see that some evening sessions are still around 50% of capacity, so we need to work very hard in the remaining weeks. We have no time to lose now.”

Lamine Diack, IAAF President, credit IAAF

“Together with my IAAF Council colleagues, I supported Beijing’s bid for the 2015 World Championships because I believed that the event would not only be an extraordinary competition and would strengthen the image of our sport worldwide, but because I felt that it would allow China to unleash the huge potential of athletics in China. I call on all our partners in China to support us to achieve these goals.”

2ND IAAF WORLD YOUTH COACHES CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN CALI ON 20 JULY

The 2nd IAAF World Youth Coaches Conference will be held in Cali, Colombia, on Monday 20 July, giving the opportunity for coaches from approximately 150 national teams assembled for the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 the chance to attend.

It will be held at the Escuela Nacional del Deporte in Cali.

Lamine Diack, IAAF President, credit IAAF

The conference will be opened by IAAF President Lamine Diack and features six experts from around the world discussing topics of interest in this category for the coaching profession.

To read more, the full article is available

IAAF WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS, CALI 2015 – 20 DAYS TO GO

With just 20 days to go to the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 the IAAF is happy to announce an exciting new project which will involve the reigning Olympic and world decathlon champion Ashton Eaton and five young athletes who will be competing in the Colombian city.

After the IAAF World Youth Championships next month, with the event being held from 15-19 July, Eaton will select five athletes who will have particularly impressed him in Cali, with not only their achievements on the track but also their commitment to the sport and fair play.

The selection of athletes will be made across the disciplines and from a diverse group of IAAF Member Federations, and the athletes will be invited to Eugene for an all-expenses paid three-day training camp with Eaton in early March

Nigeria’s Bashir bags gold medal at International Taekwondo Tourney in Columbia

Few days after Uche Perez Chukwumerije claimed gold at the 2014 Belgian Open, another Nigerian, United States-based Saturday Bashir clinched gold medal in the welterweight division at the 2nd Columbia International Taekwondo Championships, held in Cali, Columbia.

The seven-day tournament, which ends on Wednesday April 9, had athletes from Switzerland, Philippines, Nigeria, Canada, Ghana, Benin, Chile, U.S, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana, and host – Columbia.

Bashir, a 2013 Korean Opens gold medalist, defeated his opponent from Columbia 12 – 7 in the first fight, Chile 8 – 0 in the second fight, before going to stamp his supremacy over Ghana 10 – 8 in the final to win gold medal.

His opponent in the final Ghana’s Anthony Adjetey is ranked 14th in the world and with this result, this gives a clear indication of how
Team Nigeria might fare over their African counterparts in next year’s All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.

Bashir represented Nigeria at the 2013 World Team Cup, and it was his performance at the 2014 US Opens, that made him to be among the few selected athletes fully sponsored to the championships in Columbia.

The sponsorship includes full return airfare, feeding, registration fees, medical costs and provision of hydration supplements.

This performance excited the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) that its elite athletes are showing top form, as the Rio 2016 Olympics is barely 28 months away. NTF athletes’ representative, Chika Chukwumerije, hailed the wonderful week in which personal sacrifice, determination and hard work of Nigeria taekwondo’s elite athletes brought collective glory to Nigeria.

“Saturday Bashir was my teammate to the 2007 All Africa Games. Back then; he was technically sound, physically fit and very hardworking. He is an athlete whose profile inspires our young athletes, and once again, he represented Nigeria well”,” the Beijing Olympics medalist said.

He added that the success stories of Uche and Saturday would “go a long way in motivating the young upcoming athletes, and has set a winning example that can be followed.”

NTF President, George Ashiru, on behalf of the board and Nigeria taekwondo community, has sent his congratulations to Saturday in Columbia, and urged all elite athletes to continue to grab international exposure and ranking points wherever they can.

However, one of the organizers Columbia championships, Edwin Montoya, who is also the Director of the Specialized Centre Taekwondo in Columbia, noted “he was very pleased with the diversity of countries, and especially with the presence of athletes from Africa, which is not very common, thus allowing better understanding and exchange among all cultures.”

Nigeria’s Bashir (in blue) at the 2013 World Team Cup