Organisers Announce New Date For 3rd MoC Grand Prix

The 3rd Making of Champions (MoC) Grand Prix initially scheduled for 2-3 April at the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos, will now hold between Tuesday, 30 and Wednesday, 31 March 2021 at the same venue, organisers have announced.

Organisers say the shift in dates was to avoid a clash with the National Sports Festival which has been rescheduled to hold from 2-14 April in Benin City, Edo State.

The 3rd MoC Grand Prix will now be a one-day event that will serve as a final major tune-up event for Nigeria’s top Athletes preparing for the National Sports Festival. More details will be released in the coming days with regards to athlete invitations and other aspects of the 3rd MoC Grand Prix organisers said.

Meanwhile, over 700 Athletes have now registered for the 3rd MoC Grand Prix, surpassing the 500 registered at the 2nd Edition and the 400 at the 1st Edition.

The event has also taken an international dimension, as Athletes from across Africa, particularly from Kenya, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Togo, Benin Republic, Mali, Senegal, Congo and The Gambia have signalled their intention to storm Lagos for the Grand Prix, with qualification for the Tokyo Olympics up for grabs.

Reacting to the number of entries received so far, MoC Founder/CEO Bambo Akani said: “We’re very excited about the response we’ve received from athletes all across Africa for the 3rd MoC Grand Prix. It shows that there’s a real demand for competition across the continent and there’s a real opportunity for Nigeria to position itself as the premier destination for Athletics in Africa.

“Hopefully the 3rd MoC Grand Prix will be the first of many continental competitions hosted in Nigeria, and we’re calling on corporate sponsors across the nation to support our efforts to put together at least two or three more events like this before the Olympics, which will enable as many Nigerian Athletes as possible qualify for and do the nation proud in Tokyo.”

Organisers have also released Covid-19 guidelines for all Athletes, Sponsors & Partners, Event Officials, Staff, Volunteers, Security & Medical Personnel and have stressed that Athletes intending to travel from outside of Nigeria for the competition should ensure adherence with current COVID-19 protocols for entering Nigeria.

The event will still be an Invitational only, to ensure strict adherence to National Covid-19 Protocols – MoC will shortly announce the list of invited Athletes from those who have registered (with Athletes seeking qualification for International Events to receive priority) to reconfirm their participation by the registration deadline of Friday 19th March.