A few days ago, the world was hit with the devastating news of a terror attack at the 14 Riverside Dusit Complex in Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya, which led to the loss of 14 lives, including that of a Sports journalist, James Oduor.

It’s the dawn of a new Athletics season, and it is my hope that the administrators of our sport have already mapped out strategies to take Track and Field to the next level in 2019.

The long awaited 19th National Sports Festival (NSF) eventually came to an end last week, officially bringing the 2018 season to a close. The NSF was thrown open to elite and amateur athletes alike, and one argument that dominated the landscape in the course of the 10-day competition, was whether or not foreign-based athletes should be allowed to compete at the NSF.

A few days ago, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge and Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia were respectively named the Male and Female World Athletes of the Year at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) 2018 Awards held in Monaco.

Last week, I started this series by highlighting the  achievements of two of Nigeria’s most promising athletes in recent times, Tobi Amusan (100m Hurdles) and Ese Brume (Long Jump), who were both nominated in the ‘Track and Field Star of the Year’ category of the 2018 Nigerian Sports Awards held in November, and how Nigeria ought to be investing in them ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

At the 2018 Nigerian Sports Awards which was held last week, a winner emerged from the three athletes who made the final cut in the Track and Field Star of the Year category. Incidentally, all three nominees are female: Ese Brume (Long Jump), Joy Udo-Gabriel (100m/200m), and Tobi Amusan (100m Hurdles). All three nominees had a phenomenal 2018, but it was Amusan who eventually won the award.

Several weeks ago, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formally awarded the 2022 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to Senegal, making it the first ever African country to host the Olympics. The competition has been tagged ‘Dakar 2022’. Other bidders for the competition included Botswana, Nigeria and Tunisia.

A fortnight ago, Athletics South Africa (ASA) released a list of 47 athletes referred to as their ‘Preparation Squad’ ahead of next year’s IAAF World Championships holding in Doha, Qatar, from 28th September to 6th October. 

It’s not the best of times for Nigerian Athletics! One of the country’s most talented athletes and No.1 in the women’s 400m Hurdles for the past two years, Glory Nathaniel, was a few weeks ago, provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) due to the presence of a prohibited substance, Stanozolol, in her system.

It’s not the best of times for Nigerian Athletics! One of the country’s most talented athletes and No.1 in the women’s 400m Hurdles for the past two years, Glory Nathaniel,was a few weeks ago, provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit(AIU) due to the presence of a prohibited substance, Stanozolol, in her system.

The 4th edition of the National Youth Games (NYG) was recently concluded in Ilorin, Kwara State, and had more than 2000 young athletes from different parts of the country in attendance.

The 4th edition of the National Youth Games (NYG) was recently concluded in Ilorin, Kwara State, and had more than 2000 young athletes from different parts of the country in attendance.

The 2018 Athletics season will officially come to an end with the IAAF Continental Cup holding in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on September 8 and 9. The Continental Cup which holds every four years, will see athletes from all over the world, competing under four regions – Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

The 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia, ended on Thursday, and one of the dominant countries in Athletics at the competition, was Bahrain. Back in the day, not many people associated the oil-rich Arab country with Track and Field, but in recent times, Bahrain is now becoming a rising force in world Athletics, thanks to the presence of a growing number of African-born athletes within its fold, Nigerians inclusive.

It’s been over 20 days since the 2018 African Athletics Championships hosted by Nigeria, ended. The dust seems to have settled, and everyone is now focused on the IAAF Continental Cup coming up in Ostrava, Czech Republic, next month.