Athletics event of the 21st National Sports Festival began on Sunday with Team Bayelsa women bagging the first gold.
The Bayelsa ladies opened the doors to the medals in the 20km walk on Sunday morning at the main bowl of the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba.
An unfortunate occurence was the withdrawal of Edo’s Florence Idahosa, who withdrew due to the weather conditions in Asaba.
The newly installed tarrtan tracks at the stadium takes centre stage with a total of 42 events lined up in the category.
Athletics has always been the dominant sports at the sports festival since the maiden edition in 1973 and there are a total of 162 medals up for grabs in the event.
