Wednesday, August 25, 2010
 Somali youths aim to follow in athlete's footsteps |
SOMALI youngsters aiming to follow in the footsteps of middle distance champion Mo Farah took part in an athletics challenge last week.
The five to 11-year-olds, from across Enfield, took part in a 100m challenge at the New River Sports Centre in White Hart Lane.
The competition was organised by Muuse Nasir, a former sports professor at Somali National University in Mogadishu.
His objective was to inspire the children to be professional athletes.
He said: “If junior school pupils are encouraged into this sort of contest in an early stage, they may have a good athletic future ahead of them.”
One of the young juniors who opted to be an athlete cited Somali-born Londoner Mo Farah, who won gold medals in the 10,000 and 5,000m at the European Championships in Barcelona this year, as his role model.
Abdikani Alassow, of Angel Corner Parade, Edmonton, said: “I definitely want to follow in the footsteps of Mo Farah, after watching him win his gold medal."