36th Ethiopian athletics Championships to bring record turn out

By SSI staff writer

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- The 36th Ethiopian Athletics Championships will see a record number of participants when the event takes place from Wednesday May 2nd- May 6th 2007 at the Addis Ababa stadium.
Thirty-seven clubs and eleven regions will participate in the annual championships where more than 1000 athletes take part. Competitions are divided into two categories for clubs and regions with 21 events for men and 22 events for women.

The event is sponsored for the second time by Garad PLC, which is the original distributor of Samsung products in Ethiopia. M.T. Communications is partnering with EAF and Garad to provide promotion for the event at the Addis Ababa stadium and around Addis Ababa.

With a view to enhancing officiating capacity for the 16th CAA African Athletics Championships to be held next year in Addis Ababa, the EAF has been undergoing intensive officiating courses for 60 officials. The 36th Ethiopian Athletics Championships will be used as a mock event for these trainees to try out their new-learned skills.

With a view to increasing the spectator visibility of the competition, the competition calendar for the event now includes evening events. Some of the popular and highly-visible events have been moved to the evening session so that the public can view the action.

Moreover a new and computerized result information system is in place for the championships so as to produce real-time results of the championships.
Ethiopian Athletics Championships is one of ten annual competitions organized by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation and attracts the country’s top runners.