March 16, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jnr.
Sierra Leonean United Kingdom (UK)-based sprinter, Adel Sesay, will represent the country at the forthcoming IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, scheduled for 17 to 20 March.
The UK-based 60 and 100 metres specialist was selected by the Sierra Leone Athletics Association (SLAA) to fill the only slot allocated to the country by the IAAF.
“The current crops of athletes were unable to meet the qualifying standards of the meet, therefore we were only given a single spot by the IAAF at the meet as it is done for all countries who do not have athletes that meet the qualifying standards,” the SLAA said.
Meanwhile, Sesay will be accompanied by head of delegation Leslie Koroma Sr., who was selected by the SLAA to represent them at the meet.
Recently, the SLAA reached an agreement with Koroma and his organisation, the Sierra Leone Diaspora Sports Management Group (SLDMG), to form an official partnership, with (Koroma) appointed as the SLAA international representative.
Sesay, who was part of Sierra Leone’s relay team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which clocked 40.55 seconds in the 4X100m, in February 21 clocked 7.03 seconds in the 60m dash at the Birmingham championship.
SLDSMG is a non-profit organisation that was created to recruit international talents born to Sierra Leonean parents or are of verified Sierra Leonean ancestry to compete for Sierra Leone at the international level.
The group is founded by a group of former national athletes and sports enthusiasts in the Diaspora. The organisation also has a mandate to look for and connect Sierra Leone sporting bodies with international organisations that will help facilitate the development of athletes and other capacities that will help them succeed.