South Sudan sends 11 athletes to East Africa Youth Championship

South Sudan sent eleven athletes to compete in the Tanzanian U-18 and U-20 East Africa Youth Championships slated for March 10 and 11.

The athletes were selected by the South Sudan Athletics Federation after their trial in Juba last month.

The delegation, which consists of 11 players, coaching staff, and other federation officials, left on Sunday and landed successfully in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam. The team now has less than three days to prepare for the competition.

Six of the 11 athletes will compete in U-20 events, while the remaining five will compete in U-18 events.

At least five of the 11 players are female, and the athletes will be coached by two coaches, Gabriel Wuor and John Bosco.

Players to represent in U-20 include Riiny Agoth Riiny, Stephen Dinho Malual, and Anarea Abiem Mathiang, who will compete in the 200 and 400 meters, respectively, while Justin Majok Adekek and Ahok Awan will compete in the 100 and 200 meters, respectively, and Sara Deng Machiir in the javelin shot put.

Under-18 players include James Mayer Bullo and Mariama John Joseph, who will be participating in 100 metres and 200 metres, James Dok Maper, will compete in 400 metres, while Sabrin Anthony Ukel will race in 200 metres as well as 400 metres and Turki Anthony Osman will run for 800 and 500 meters, respectively.

The African Youth Athletics Championships are a biennial continental athletics competition for African athletes, organized by the Confederation of African Athletics.

First held in 2013, the tournament is a youth category event open to athletes aged 15 to 17 in the year of competition.

The competition was the third continental athletics competition to be created for that age level, following in the steps of the South American and Oceanian events.

Its proposal, coming at a similar time as that for the European Athletics Youth Championships, marked a growing interest in international competition for younger people.