Municipality Day/Brava: José da Luz revalidates title in athletics competitions

The athlete José da Luz today revalidated his title of champion in the senior men's athletics events, held to commemorate the Municipality Day and the patron saint, São João Baptista, marked on the 24th of June.

Speaking to Inforpress, the athlete highlighted that the feeling is one of great joy, as this is the second consecutive time that he is winning the title and promises to continue working to give the people of Brave more happiness.

According to José da Luz , it was a difficult race, taking into account that this year athletes from Fogo and the island of Santiago who are “better prepared” also participated, adding that on the route he faced some difficulties in climbing Nossa Senhora do Monte, but which then stabilized and managed to take a big advantage to his colleagues.

He asks the Regional Athletics Association of Brava (ARAB) to start work in order to encourage younger people to participate in competitions, as working to participate in competitions without any preparation or support, even if it is moral, is a little complicated.

For the female senior, Elenise Mendes, an athlete coming from the city of Praia, was better, thus winning first place.

Despite being a beginner in these competitions, the athlete says she has had a “positive” performance so far and with each race and competition she learns new things that she always puts into practice in order to improve her participation in other competitions.

The councilor responsible for Sports, Mário Soares, made a positive assessment, taking into account the participation of athletes from Brave, but also athletes from Fogo and the city of Praia.

Those who also deserved a positive note from this leader were the public that joined in mass and supported all the sporting activities carried out, thus exceeding the expectations that the organization placed around these competitions.

This involvement on the part of the public and athletes, according to Mário Soares, is yet another incentive for the team to continue to work focused.

The mayor thanked the Institute of Sports and Youth (IDJ), which was the main partner in these activities and in many others that have been carried out, but also requested greater engagement on the part of other entities, whether local or governmental, justifying that only the municipal council with its limited resources cannot do everything.

This official highlighted that in total the sporting competitions involved more than 400 people, with a budget of around 500 contos, where medals, trophies and monetary prizes will be awarded to the first classified in each competition.

As for the athletics events, 16 athletes participated in the senior men's category, six athletes from the city of Praia, five from the island of Brava and another five from Fogo. Three athletes participated in the female senior, three in the veterans and 16 brave athletes in the youth.