Lagos –  A long distance athlete, Kefas Williams, on Thursday appealed to the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to implement grassroots development programmes, to attract the interest of teenagers in long distant races.

Williams told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone in Lagos that the sport was on a decline, due to insufficient competitions to discover athletes at the grassroots.

Williams was a 5,000m gold medallist at the 67th All Nigeria/Cross River Open Athletics Championships held in Calabar in June 2013.

“I think the problem we have with long distance races is the low level of interest from a lot of youngsters across the country.

“This is so because we lack a good number of grassroots competitions that will attract the interest of the younger ones.

“I want to appeal to the AFN to look into this area and organise competitions at the grassroots, so that we don’t end up struggling to produce such athletes,” he said.

The athlete expressed optimism that the country could produce long distance athletes with potential to perform at the highest level, if a productive programme was in place.

“Anything is possible; it’s all about putting the right programmes in place and executing them in the right manner.

“We can be among the best if we put our acts together. We can grow through the ranks and become like the Kenyans and the Ethiopians,” he added. (NAN)