The Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo, has set aside a N10m trust fund for any athlete that can break the 200m African record set by ex-international, and Skoolimpics Ambassador, Mary Onyali-Omagbemi.
The MD while declaring the pilot edition of the Heritage Bank- Lagos State Skoolimpics 2016 open said he would be setting aside the sum of N10m that would be yielding interests and would be handed over to any athlete discovered at the competition who was able to break Onyali’s record.
Onyali’s 200m record of 22.07secs was set 20 years ago at the IAAF Weltklasse Meet in Zurich, Switzerland and no athlete has been able to match it.
The MD also applauded other sponsors and Lagos State government who had partnered with the bank in their quest to develop the youths.
“Skoolimpics has come to stay and this is just the pilot edition,” he said.
“We have planned, meet people and today we all can see the results of the planning. I am happy that we have somebody as Onyali as an ambassador because she was discovered from school competition like this.
“The target is to build future champions from amidst all these students and I am looking forward to see an athlete that will break our ambassador’s 200m record.
“I am going to start an endowment fund with N10m, for anyone that can break her record in the next 10 to 20 years, the money will be increasing and whosoever break that record will take the money, and with that I declare this year Skoolimpics open.”
Five events will be competed for across two venues, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere and Rowe Park, Yaba. The events are athletics, basketball, table tennis, swimming and handball. – Thisday.
