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CAA, ASA praise 20th African Championships

Cape Town - The President of the Confederation of African Athletics Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, who is also the Vice President of IAAF (International Association of Athletics Association), has praised Athletics South Africa for what he has called a job well done.

President Kalkaba, who also co-hosted President of the IAAF, Lord Sebastian Coe at Kings Park Athletics Stadium, said he is particularly impressed that the execution of the competition was to the level and caliber of the Championships.

“I want to first thank South Africa for organising a beautiful competition in such a short space of time,” said President Kalkaba. “We understand that the federation could only do things to a certain point and the rest depended on the response of the local government authorities who were partners.

“It is not easy to organise an event of this magnitude in the short time that ASA President Aleck Skhosana and the Local Organising Committee had.

“When organising at this level there will always be challenges that may not be overcome. We are aware of the many challenges they faced and we appreciate that they did everything to put the CAA event at a good level.

“Also, on behalf of the Confederation, I congratulate South Africa for your achievement as a country in defending the Championship which you won in Morocco,” said Kalkaba.

ASA President Skhosana, was also quick to recognise the firsts that this Championship has produced, praising his LOC for rising to the occasion each time it was pushed to do better.

“I must also express my joy and pride to all Team South Africa athletes for flying the national flag high and for each of their efforts that took our performance further. 

“In Morocco we tallied at 12 gold medals. Here at home our 96-member squad has now raised this to a whopping 16 golds accompanied by nine silvers and eight bronze.

“This is a much needed confidence-boosting statement as we now work towards the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.

“Without singling any particular athletes in our team, the performances of elite, senior and athletes from our junior ranks continue to say we are on the track as a federation and as a country.

“We must also pride ourselves to have had the most participating nations ever for this competition with 48 out of 54 and just over 40 national federation Presidents attending.

“This is a clear expression of confidence by our sister countries in the ability of firstly our federation and then South Africa in hosting international events of this nature.”

Skhosana was quick to thank President Kalkaba, Secretary General Lamine Faty and the entire CAA membership for trusting South Africa to handle the Championship and for all the support that was received.

He then directed his attention to the KwaZulu Natal province and the City of Durban: “The leadership in the province and here eThekwini never disappointed and went on to provide a top quality facility for the Championship.

“The new track and upgraded facility are now a legacy for domestic and other future competitions,” Skhosana said. “We must not forget to also thank TV broadcaster, SuperSport for putting South Africa first, coming in at the last moment.

“Without them, we would have had a TV blackout. The Championship managed to go international because we were able to offer TV coverage.”

There were 48 countries, with entries at 352 women and 467 men.

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