World Athletics delegates to the 10^th edition of the Lagos City Marathon held on Saturday, February 15, 2025, have commended the organisational acumen, of Yussuf Alli, the General Manager of the Lagos City Marathon. 

The World Athletics delegates to the Lagos City Marathon are Anna Molisova Air Quality Project Manager World Athletics, Olivia Meyonette Sweeney, Nadeem Kamm and ⁠Sadiq Sudan. 

Speaking after the 10^th edition of Africa’s biggest one-day sports event, the delegates were amazed by Alli’s organisational acumen in handling the technical aspects of the race. They admit it is at par with the technical organisation of the seven biggest marathons in the world—New York, Berlin, London, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo, and Sydney.

“The technical organisation of the marathon is at par with the best races in the world, we commend Alli and his fantastic team, they did a good job.”

The team also commended Alli for his brilliant idea of starting the race early which enabled the runner to run fast times despite the harsh weather.

“Despite the hot weather, the first runner still crossed the finish line in under 2 hours 15 minutes, if Alli had organised this race in Berlin or any city with friendly weather, the winner would probably finish in 2 hours, 2 minutes.” 

Widely regarded as the godfather of marathons and road races in Nigeria, Alli made his name in sports as a jumper, sprinter and footballer.

His transition from field events to organizing and managing marathon road races and marathons shocked many including the World Athletics Road Running Manager Alessio Punzi.

When he visited Nigeria, Punzi was shocked that Alli he knew as a world-class jumper was the same Alli who was doing wonders in road races and marathons.

A major asset in the planning and organisation of iconic races like the MTN Marathon, Glo Marathon, We Run Lagos, Aba Marathon, Obudu Mountain Race, and many others, Alli organises and manages the two World Athletics Gold Label races in Nigeria: the Okpekpe 10 Km Road Race and the Lagos City Marathon.

  Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H

Organisers of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, Nilayo Sports Management Company Limited, have announced ValueJet as its official Airline partner for the 10th Anniversary of the Race.

ValueJet which is one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing indigenous Airlines has joined a long list of partners who are making sure the Lagos City Marathon maintains its status as Africa’s biggest road race.

As organisers of the race expect to welcome over 4000 international Athletes and 400 Elite Athletes from all over the World, Valuejet is expected to bring its cutting-edge aviation experience to bear.

Chief Executive Officer of Nilayo Sports Management Company Limited, Mrs Yetunde Olopade, said the partnership with Valuejet is a massive achievement for the race and it only shows how increasingly confident Corporate Nigeria is in the Lagos City marathon.

” We all know that Valuejet has been one of the biggest supporters of Nigerian Sports for some years now with all they have been doing with football and other sports so we are very excited to have them on board because we share a similar vision of elevating the standard of Nigerian Sports”.

” We are extremely proud and elated at Nilayo with this latest announcement of Valuejet as our Aviation partner. You know the Access Bank Lagos city marathon has now become not only a household name in the calendar of Sports in Nigeria but on the continent and the World as a whole.

” This is the level of feasibility and stature the race has risen to, over the last ten years, and to have Valuejet now on board is a testament to the hard work of the last couple of years”.

ValueJet has now joined a growing list of partners that include the Lagos State Government, Access Bank, 7up, Airtel, Kia Motors, Casio, Premier Cool, Robb and Brila FM.

The Access Bank Lagos City Marathon is a gold-labelled race and its 10th Anniversary slated for the 15th of February 2025, is expected to bring together the biggest names in world athletics from Sports administrators to runners.

Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H

World Athletics has begun a consultation period for an updated set of regulations for transgender and difference-of-sex development (DSD) athletes, with a cheek swab test among several proposals being considered, the governing body said on Monday.

In 2023, track and field’s global governing body voted to ban transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in women’s events and announced the formation of a working group to further study the issue of trans inclusion.

In the findings announced by the working group on Monday, it said exclusively basing the regulations on whether or not an athlete had gone through male puberty was wrong.

“New evidence clarifies that there is already an athletically significant performance gap before the onset of puberty,” it added.

“The childhood or pre-pubertal performance gap in the sport of athletics specifically is three to five per cent in running events, and higher in throwing and jumping events.

“New evidence establishes that athletic disadvantages associated with female body structure and physiology contribute to the performance gap.”

The working group laid out five recommendations, including formally affirming the design of the female category, revising eligibility regulations and adopting a pre-clearance requirement for all athletes competing in the category.

It also suggested putting female DSD athletes – like double Olympic 800-metre champion Caster Semenya – under the same set of rules as transgender athletes.

Under World Athletics’ current rules, female DSD athletes must lower their level of testosterone to below 2.5 nmol/L for at least six months to compete. This can be done medically or surgically.

“The current TG regulations exclude transgender women who have experienced male puberty, while the DSD Regulations provide that XY DSD athletes with the same experience are included,” the working group said.

The working group recommended the use of a sex screening method like a cheek swab or dry blood spot analysis for athletes wishing to compete in the elite female category, which would test for the male-determining SRY gene.

The consultation period for the working group’s proposal began on Monday and will continue until March 5.

‘CLEAR POLICIES’

World Athletics boss Sebastian Coe said it was vital for the guidelines to be updated.

“World Athletics is a leader in preserving the female category in sport and one of the first international sports federations to establish clear policies on female eligibility in elite sport…,” he added.

“Preserving the integrity of competition in the female category is a fundamental principle of the sport of athletics and we look forward to this collaborative consultation process with our key stakeholders in this area.”

Transgender inclusion in sport has been widely discussed in recent weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump this month signed an executive order attempting to exclude transgender girls and women from female sports.

Transgender advocacy groups say excluding trans athletes amounts to discrimination.

Critics of transgender inclusion in women’s sports say going through male puberty imbues athletes with a huge musculoskeletal advantage that transition does not mitigate.

-Reuters

Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H