Africa-Press – Angola. The president of the Angolan Athletics Federation (FAA), Bernardo João, in the city of Lubango, Huíla province, that about five thousand runners will be able to participate in the “São Silvestre” pedestrian race, which this year to the streets of Luanda on the 26th of the current month.
According to the official, the interest in participating in the race, transferred to the current month due to Covid-19, has increased and it will not be surprising if between 3,500 and 5,000 athletes participate in the race, respectively.
The runners from Kenya, Gambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as guests, have already confirmed their presence, along with all the federated athletes who will represent the 18 provinces of the country. The race, said Bernardo João, will also be attended by groups of non-federated athletes, such as Mamã Muxima, Bravos, Kilamba and others.
“Initially, we had registered 1,900 athletes”, he said, adding that, “in view of the measures to prevent and combat the pandemic taken by the Executive, the interest of participants has increased every day. It won’t surprise anyone if up to 5,000 runners take part.”
On the other hand, he explained that due to Covid-19, which prevented the event from taking place in December, as it always was, the range of street runners increased “considerably”.
The president of the governing body assured that the issue of prizes is taken care of. “We continue to work so that the São Silvestre race is a fact and all runners participate without any problems”, he assured.
Start of preparation
Ernestina Paulino, core athlete of Interclube da Huíla, winner of the 64th edition of the race, held in 2020, assured, yesterday, in an interview with JA, that she is preparing herself to occupy one of the places on the podium.
“I continue to prepare myself to reach my goal, which is to participate in São Silvestre, 2022 edition”, says the athlete, adding that she will run as far as she can to overcome the biggest obstacles, referring to the possibility of foreign athletes participating. who will do his best to win first place. “After being crowned champion, I want to repeat the feat among the nationals”.
The same conviction is presented by the male athlete David Elias, also from Interclube, and second place in the São Silvestre edition 2020.
He says that after winning the National Cross Country, played last weekend, in the municipality of Humpata, his focus is now turned to the sporting event that brings together the largest number of competitors.
“After winning the national, my attention is turned to the next edition of São Silvestre and my training is directed according to the characteristics of the traditional race”, assured Elias, who recognized the high level of competition. vicissitudes, the important thing is to train well so that on the day of the race you are in shape, whether in terms of resistance, strength and speed. of six athletes, of which four were male and two were female.
He mentioned that the group will be present with athletes David Elias, Francisco Caluvi, Jeremias Candumbo, Alda Paulo and Adelaide Machado.
According to the coach, after a year break, due to Covid-19, the objective is to occupy the first place among the national runners, with the presence of foreigners Arão Martins.
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