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The Managing Director of Nilayo Sports Management Limited, the organisers of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Bukola Olopade, has announced that the winners of the eighth edition of the competition will book tickets for the marathon event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Olopade said the decision using the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon as a qualifying race for the next Olympics was because of its Gold-Label status and the calibre of the foreign runners registered for the 42km race.
“The runners are high-profile and they belong to the class of the best set of road runners in the world, going by their ratings. This was disclosed to us by the World Athletics Head of Running and Mass Participation, Alessio Punzi,” he said.
Olopade noted that another big highlight of the marathon was the use of the photofinish device to separate winners who finished in lightening speed. This will help separate the winners.
He added, “The use of speed cameras capable of taking as much as 3000 shots will also be used at the finish line. This will help reconfirm the decisions reached at the finish line and make it error free.”
Big names battle for honours at Access Bank Lagos Marathon
All is now set for the eighth edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon which holds on Saturday as a Gold-Label race.
A total of 50,000 athletes, including 76 foreign runners from 22 countries across the world, will participate in the marathon.
Among the world-class foreign runners billed to compete are Kenya’s John Komen, who won the 2019 Athens Marathon in 2:16:34; his compatriot Barmasai David and Hayla Worku, who ran 2:07:32 at the Houston Marathon where he emerged champion in 2014.
The Managing Director of Nilayo Sports Management Limited, the organisers of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Bukola Olopade, is hopeful the invited foreigners will give a good account of themselves.
He appealed to Lagos residents to see the race as their own, adding that the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon had put Nigeria on the world map.
“Considering the good weather we have at the moment, I am sure some of the foreign runners will achieve good results by finishing below two hours nine minutes. That will be a big boost to the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, and for residents in Lagos, we will continue to appeal to them to see this event as their own.”