The Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa has lauded Tanzania Armed Forces team, winner of the Marathon race for claiming gold medals in both the men’s and women’s categories.
Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania Team won the men’s race with a time of 2:17:19, while Magdalena Crispin Shauri of Tanzania team of the Armed Forces clinched victory in the women’s race with a time of 2:36:29.
Speaking on the participation of Nigeria in the long distrace, General Musa said ""We took time to make sure that we picked the best we can. Now, we're learning a lot of lessons. You know, the last time it was done was 22 years ago. It's a long time.
"So, it's good for us that we're going through this. It will make us improve. I will make sure that yearly we'll try and have competitions so that we can make sure our athletes are up and doing. And that will prepare us in the future. And I think the next competition we're going to do a lot better."
The CDS therefore encouraged Nigerians, especially for the long-distance races. "You know, we're used to short-distance races. I think we need a challenge to challenge ourselves so that we can do better in long-distance races.
"The game is meeting the expectation. We're very happy with what's going on. For us, as Nigerians, everybody knows us for organization.
"I think this is just one typical example, especially for the armed forces. We're professional in everything we do and everything we set to do, we always do it very well. So, you can see how it's going. We started at exactly 6 a.m. this morning. 42.13 kilometers, which is very good. And you can see the turnout."
He affirmed that the AMGA 2024 hosted by Nigeria is to promote Unity. "We've always said that whatever challenges we're having in Nigeria is a whole-of-society approach. Now, this is uniting the society together to ensure that apart from being the kinetic effort, even in sports, we need to work together. And that's the only way we can build synergy. So, I want to call on all Nigerians. They should come in.
"We have fellow Africans, fellow brothers and sisters from other African countries here in Abuja enjoying this. Other ones should come in so that we can join and make sure that they enjoy the competition very well."
This victory highlights Tanzania's strength in long-distance running, further solidifying their reputation in African athletics.
25 African countries, including the host country Nigeria today, 23 November 2024 took part in the 40Kilometres Marathon Race as part of activities lined up for the Africa Military Games 2024, there will be a Marathon Race.
The much-anticipated marathon race kicked off at exactly 6:00 a.m. from the City Gate Abuja and spanned through the city of Abuja.
SpyeTV News who was at the marathon race reports that Tanzania dominated the event, claiming gold medals in both the men’s and women’s categories.
Video report to be uploaded on our YouTube Channel...
