Africa-Press – Angola. The secretary of State for Sports, Paulo Madeira, has stressed that Angola welcomes African Olympic leaders with great pride, in a special year in which the country celebrates 50 years of Independence.
The official made this statement during his intervention at the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), held in Luanda, with Olympic representatives from the 54 African countries, where the present and future of the sector are being analyzed.
Regarding the AYG (African Youth Games) taking place in Luanda and Bengo, he said the event is a celebration that everyone should be proud of, adding that all the graces should generate opportunities for exchange, sharing and brotherhood.
“Our young people must grow increasingly aware of what our continent is. And, on the other hand, they should also take advantage of these competitions to grow as athletes, improve their marks and maintain the Olympic dream,” he stressed.
For his part, the Chairperson of the Angolan Olympic Committee (COA), Pedro Godinho, said it was an honor to host a meeting of the magnitude of a General Assembly.
“ANOCA wanted other events to be held, in addition to the games, such as this extraordinary assembly, which clearly analyzed the state of sport in Africa,” he said.
For the official, the African conclave will go down in history, being the first time that Olympic officials from the continent and guests from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have come together in the country.
The African Youth Games have been taking place since the 10th of the current month. Athletics is the sport with the largest number of participants, with 364, followed by swimming (224), taekwondo (182), judo (173) and karate (165), while Angola has the largest delegation, with 165 athletes.
Among the largest delegations are also Algeria, with 151 athletes, Tunisia (137), South Africa (108) and Egypt (105), while the Seychelles Islands, with four, Malawi and Somalia, both with three each, are the least represented countries at the event.
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