ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Africa’s top athletes will be honoured in a new African athletics Hall of Fame award to be hosted in Ethiopia later this month, the continent’s governing body for the sport said on Saturday.
Seventy-two athletes, including track heavyweights Haile Gebreselassie, Hicham El-Guerrouj and Frankie Fredericks, have been chosen for the inaugural induction set to take place in a tribute gala on the eve of the 16th African Athletics Championships at the end of April.
“The event is meant to pay tribute to the best (African) athletes during the past 50 years,” Aminata Gueye, spokeswoman of the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), told AFP.
Gueye said only Olympic gold medalists, world champions and record holders from the continent are eligible for the Hall of Fame, and plans are also underway to create an exhibition.
“The athletes, both male and female, were selected through their achievements. We went through records three or four months ago and came up with the list,” said the CCA’s presidential advisor, Jean-Emmanuel Pondi.
Five former greats, including Ethiopia’s twice-Olympic marathon champion Abebe Bikila, will also be given posthumous awards, Pondi added.
Over 1,200 participants are expected to compete in twenty-three events during the five-day tournament.
This year’s competition, which has cost Ethiopia more than two million dollars to organize, is one of a selected number of international fixtures whereby qualification for the Beijing Olympics can be secured.
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Does anyone have a list of who will be inducted? Obviously Haile Gebrselassie will be, but what about Kenenisa Bekele? Miruts Yifter?
I’ve posted my thoughts on the Hall of Fame here. Now I’m very curious to compare who I think will get in with the actual list!
[Reply]
April 7th, 2008 at 12:20 PM
What the award will do fof Abebe Bikila,or his family?
His family live in objict poverity they need money not award… if the govt. of Ethiopia doesn’t have money to give them they can give them free land and house to live in and tax holiday if they want to start industry. and long term loan that way they can live there rest of their live happer knowing that Ethiopian people care…
giving land and tax hoilday for our hero is a good economy policy… because this tax hoilday will attract more investor to invest in biqila family business hence the business will grow bigger this mean more people will work for Biqila business interest this means more worker will pay taxs in way by starting the biqila business the govt got more tax money in return instead of taxing one person they can now taxing 10,000 workers who work for biqila business.
in old time our king and queens used to give land for their war hero… that means giving land for hero is not new it is our tradation we should follow it it make sense…other wise emplty award will not do anything for our poor and forgoten hero
[Reply]
April 7th, 2008 at 12:47 PM