Team Liberia Set for Athletics Championships in Mauritius

Ebony Morrison, who recently ran her personal best in the women's 60m hurdle semifinals at The World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, is one of two females that make up the team.

Team Liberia, a team comprising four males and two females, is set to participate in the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) African Senior Championship,  slated for June 8-12th in Port-Louis, Mauritius.

Mulbah Zaza, President of  the Liberia Athletics  Federation (LAF) told sports journalists on Monday that  the local athletes, Nancy Tokpa and Telvin Jallah have joined four US-based Liberian athletes to represent  the country in the East African country.

The CAA African Senior Athletics Championships returns after it was last held in 2018 in Asaba, Nigeria. The Championship did not take place in the last three years due to postponements and cancellations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Recently, Captain Telvin Jallah led a team of 15 athletes to Cape Coast, Ghana where they won 21 medals.

“We believed these two local athletes will make the team stronger and they are some of the promising athletes with great potentials,” Mr. Zaza said.

Team Members: 

Ebony Morrison is a Liberian hurdler residing in the United States. In the 2020 Summer Olympics she took part in the women’s 100m hurdles. She will compete in women’s 100m hurdles.

Nancy Tokpah is Liberia’s best female sprinter. Between 2019 and up to the recent competition in Cape Coast, Ghana, Liberia has won more than 55 medals as a team through her instrumentality.  She will run in the women’s 100m. 

Emmanuel Matadi has represented Liberia in the 2016 Summer Olympics, the 2017 World Athletics Championships and the 2020 Summer Olympics. He will be competing in the 100m and 200m races, respectively.

Wellington Zaza specialises in the 110 metres hurdles and the 400 metres hurdles. Zaza is the African junior record holder in the 110 metres hurdles. He broke that record at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He has also competed at a World Championships. He will run the men’s 110m hurdles.

Akeem Sirleaf competes and holds national records in the 200m and 400m. He will compete in the 200m and 400m in Mauritius.

Telvin Jallah is the only home-based athlete among the men and will run in the 100m. Team Liberia won 21 medals under his leadership at the tournament in Cape  Coast, Ghana. This is the highest number of medals the country has earned from a single international competition in about two decades.