Lagos — Susan Akene will tomorrow in Oghara, Delta State renew her rivalry with Agnes Osazuwa at the grand finale of the Super Classic reinvented by the new board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, (AFN).

After running neck on neck against each other at the Gabriel Suswam Meet in Makurdi, the two sprinters who are both competing for the same Civil Defence Corps team rekindled their rivalry at the Ladi Lawal Classics at the University of Lagos Sports Complex. It took the final head-dip at the finish line for Osazuwa to snatch the 100m title. Osazuwa clocked 11.3 while Akene picked the silver in 11.4.

But for track and field aficionados, Akene holds a special place at this meet because she is a product of the developmental programme initiated by the former Delta First Lady for girls in track. The memories of these ex-products of the Nkoyo Ibori Meet will not be complete without also listing the small girls of yesterday who have now graduated into the super stars of the country and continent.

Beijing Olympic long jump bronze medallist, Blessing Okagbare first got the rare opportunity to strut her stuff in the Nkoyo Ibori junior female challenge before graduating to become one of the best jumpers in the land. Okagbare, apart from excelling in the triple jump and long jump, is now a force in the American NCAA.

2007 All Africa Games double sprint champion; Damola Osayomi was also a product of the Nkoyo Ibori legacy. Osayomi remains the best sprinter in the whole of Africa and with a little push, she is a likely candidate for the top 8 in the world.

Of course the list is not complete without a mention of the likes of Kesiena Egone and Chinazom Amadi who have also gone ahead to make their marks in their own way in the track and field business.

It is against this backdrop that this weekend's Nkoyo Ibori Super Classic in Oghara is going to be seen as a celebration of the success of the developmental programme initiated to help discover more talents from the grassroots.

Events listed to be competed for by the male Classics athletes include; 100m, 400m, 800m, 4x100m, Long Jump, Shot put, 110m h, High jump, 5000m, 4x400m and Hammer.

The women are to compete in 100m, 400m, 1500m, 4x100m, 4x400m, triple jump, High jump, 100mh, javelin, Discuss and 10,000m.

All athletes who finish in the top six of all the listed events are to get N20, 000, N16, 000, N14, 000, N12, 000, N10, 000 and N8, 000.