NIZWA: The Oman Athletics Association organised a festival for children that uses the power of athletics to inspire children and young people, wherever they are, to be more active, develop their skills and confidence, and to connect with sport in Nizwa and Bahla. This was part of the International Children’s Athletics Day which falls on May 7 with the World Mile Challenge to mark the 70th anniversary of Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile on 6 May 1954. This year's focus is on running, jogging, or walking a mile. To encourage participants to ‘go the extra mile’, there will be a global ‘total miles run’ calculator clocking the miles registered in real time between 1 and 19 May so that all participants can track their collective progress.
About 80 children participated along with athletes, coaches, technical staff and physical education teachers in various competitions in held in the souq and fort premises of Nizwa and Bahla. The festival also included some accompanying activities such as folk art (Al Razha), as well as pottery, palm fronds craft, Omani food, which the children got to know closely. The Oman Athletics Association aimed to introduce and highlight the tourism and heritage of Nizwa by organizing the festival.
Khalfan bin Hamad al Waeli, a member of the Board of Directors of the Oman Athletics Association, said: “This festival is for children’s athletics, and its goal is to celebrate World Children’s Athletics Day this year. It comes under the slogan “Global Mile Challenge,” and this slogan was chosen by the International Federation. All countries in the world now celebrate this occasion, each in its own way, highlighting some activities and events that it deems appropriate, but within the conditions and basics set by the International Federation. We also targeted the tourism aspect, highlighting the role of tourism. Our goal was to introduce athletics to kids.” The festival ended with honoring the sponsors, distributing certificates and gifts to the participating children. Saud al Farqani, a member of the Municipal Council in Al Dakhiliyah Governorate, representing the wilayat of Nizwa, was the guest of honour.
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