Athletes, coaches commend U.S.-based Victor Okorie over Tobias Igwe memorial classic

Athletes, coaches and administrators have commended the initiator and sponsor of the maiden Tobias Igwe memorial Classic, United States-based former 400m hurdler, Victor Okorie.

Okorie, a board member of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), is sponsoring the Classic to honour the late Tobias Igwe, who was one of Nigeria’s greatest athletics managers. The Classic, which was originally meant for athletes from all five Southeast states of the federation, is said to have generated interest from other athletes from the South South and Southwest region. It is scheduled to hold in the first quarter of 2025.

Some of the athletes who spoke with The Guardian on the Classic were full of praises for Okorie for initiating such a programme for the late Coach Toblow.

“I am excited that someone on the board of the AFN is sponsoring this Athletics Classic to honour the late Coach Toblow,” Enugu-based sprinter Emmanuel Chukwudi told The Guardian in a telephone chat yesterday. “I am sure this will ginger other coaches to put in their best knowing fully well that they won’t be forgotten even when they are no more.”

Sponsor of the Classic, Okorie, told The Guardian, that the maiden Tobias Igwe Memorial Classics may hold in Enugu or at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, Delta State capital. “We are looking at May 31, 2025, as date for the Classics,” he said.

Okorie was one of the most gifted hurdlers that rose from the school sports system to rule the National Sports Festival winning back to back in the 400m hurdles at Imo ‘98 and Bauchi ‘2000. He was one of the athletes discovered and nurtured to stardom by the late Tobias Igwe in the city of Enugu during the golden era of Nigerian athletics.

According to Okorie, a representative of the