Chinedu trekked a distance of 48.04km in six hours, 15 minutes to break the previous record set by Indian soldier, Naib Subedar Azad Singh, who in 2014 travelled a distance of 45.64km to erase the record set by Abdul Halim of Bangladesh, who travelled a distance of 15.2 km on October 22, 2011.
At an event to mark the feat, the ball and Chinedu’s head were inspected by President of Nigeria Referees Association, Tade Azeez, assisted by a former FIFA referee and senior lecturer at the National Institute for Sports, Dr. Alex Mana, and an ex-Olympian, Henry Amike, who watched him trek from the Redemption Camp on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to the National Stadium, Lagos.
At the National Stadium, he trekked round the main bowl 11 times to break the record and trekked round it 11 more times to set the new record.
Chinedu, who expressed appreciation to the Rafiu Oladipo Sports Foundation, which organised the event, for believing in him, stated that he nearly experienced a muscle strain at Berger Bus Stop at the boundary between Lagos and Ogun states.
“I am happy that the scare gave way immediately to enable me to continue the journey unhindered,” he said.
“I thank the Rafiu Oladipo Sports Foundation for encouraging me both financially and otherwise and also made contacts with the Guinness Book of World Records office to ensure the event took place.”
Ladipo, who doubles as President of Nigeria Football Supporters Club, said the foundation received little support at inception of the event.
He described Chinedu as a Nigerian sports ambassador and pledged his foundation’s sponsorship for the athlete to “Tafisa 2016” championship.
“We are also committed to helping any talented Nigerian youth put the country’s name on the world map,” he said.
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Well done Harrison!
Management of talents and human capital is a monumental challenge that is yet to be aggressively addressed!