Organizers of the historic gold label Okpekpe International 10km Road Race, Mike Itemuagbor has commended Supersport for its unwavering support over the years towards the success of the annual event.
Speaking during a meeting with the new Multichoice South Africa CEO, Marc Jury in Johannesburg last week, Itemuagbor affirmed that the race has always been beamed live to millions of homes across Africa and live-streamed to millions others across the globe on Supersport right from the beginning.
“We started as the first race to have its race course measured by a World Athletics accredited course measurer as well as the first to be granted a label (bronze) status seven years after World Athletics started classification of important road races across the globe,” said Itemuagbor. “We knew the importance of getting the race to a global audience and this informed our partnership with Supersport albeit World Athletics requirements at the time did not include live telecast of the race,”
Continuing, Itemuagbor, who decorated Jury with a customised medal used at the race, said the new Multichoice South Africa CEO has been a huge supporter of the race.
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“Marc Jury has been a huge supporter of the race when he was head of Supersport. I am here to personally say a big thank you to him.
The race has become a major event that attracts the attention of a huge global audience and I am also here to discuss how we can take the race to the next level.
Itemuagbor is delighted the race is impacting greatly on the people of Edo state and has been a huge marketing tool for Nigeria.
“The race has impacted greatly on the community in and around Okpekpe, especially the students of Edo State University, Uzauire in terms of knowing how to organise and manage events through their participations in several volunteer groups,” he further said. “The students were drawn from their related disciplines such as Mass Communication, Medicine and Surgery and Engineering programmes. Their participation helps them gain practical knowledge about their chosen discipline.”