Defending champions, South Africa, has declared that it is not letting up its dominance of African athletics as the 2025 CAA U-18/U-20 Championships beckons in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

  The Rainbow nation said it is ready to make a statement with the young athletes they will parade in the championships holding at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena, Abeokuta  from July 16 to 20.

    From the maiden CAA U-18/U-20 Championships in Cote d’Ivoire in 2019, South Africa has beaten off strong competitions from Nigeria and Kenya in both categories, though Nigeria and Kenya officials are optimistic of making adjustments to the calculations this time in Abeokuta.

   Athletics South Africa, who is parading world junior champion in the men’s 100m Bayanda Walaza, Njabulo Mbatha 400mh, Tumi Ramokgopa women’s 100m is determined to maintain the status quo.

   “The South African delegation is made of 70 strong athletes and that is how serious we take these Championships just like all others before this edition,” Media consultant to ASA, Sifiso Cele said.  “The mandate given to each athlete is simple, “Bring the African title home.” 

   “But we realise that to be crowned African champions, we have to compete with best there is in the continent to prove our mettle. We will take no opponent lightly and therefore we worry about each event and each lineup.

   “We definitely believe Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia are amongst the countries to watch, but it would be foolish for us to ignore the other countries who have equally prepared.

   “The athletes we bring to this contest are hungry for success and some of them are world champions in their own right and world achievers alike. But the South Africa attitude will be to respect every opponent so that the guard is not lowered at all,” Cele started.

   He added that this 2025 championships in Abeokuta will be exciting as many countries are looking to expose talents that would likely form the core of their teams to Los Angeles  2028 Olympics.

   “I think it would be reasonable for us to predict that these Championships will be explosive, exciting and produce records. We can selfishly hope South Africans will be amongst those top achievers.

   ”We thank Nigeria for hosting this Championship at short notice, after it was moved from Algeria. The last time we gathered here as a continent was at the African Senior Championships in Asaba.”