In a bid to encourage and recognize home based athletes, Athletic Heat – a Nigerian athletics website is set to host the first ever track and field awards in Nigeria in partnership with one of Nigeria’s foremost media outfits, Ultima Studios.
In a chat with ACLSports, Co-founder of Athletic Heat, Toluwani Adebakin said: “the main goal of the blog is to promote track and field in Nigeria especially home grown athletes because they receive very little attention or reward for their efforts in relation to the foreign based athletes. Our goal this year is to encourage and help foster track and field from Nigerian roots.”
There is no doubt that the partnership with Ultima Studios famously known for hosting the “Who wants to be a millionaire” and “Projectfame West Africa” TV show in Nigeria is a huge one for the awards and Mr Toluwani has nothing but praises for them.
“Ultima has brought a lot to the table in making this awards possible, I cannot disclose all the information concerning the partnership but they have shown they are ready to support and give track and field all the resources at their disposal in all aspects like media and technical support.”
The awards, he said, will feature “five nominees which would be chosen in each category by Athletic heat and track and field coaches based on the top performances of athletes in the 2017 season. The winners would be selected by public votes which will last for one month between November 20th and December 20th.”
Adding that “Athletic Heat is planning to reward athletes with cash prizes and awards for their efforts during the 2017 season.” The award categories are expected to be announced this week in the build up to the awards proper which will take place at Ultima Studios, Lekki Phase 1 on December 21st.
