Oyedele Hammed Akinwunmi, popularly called Gilardino is a 500l student of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, LAUTECH. The famous athlete recently partook in the maiden edition of 10km marathon race tagged Sustainable Development Goal. The Marathon race was organized and sponsored by Sustainable Development Solution Network as well as Three Crown.
Hammed got to know about the competition which comprises male and female sections via a friend and as one of the team’s best marathoner who has represented the team in various competitions , like the Lagos city marathon race and Ibadan city marathon race, he decided to represent the school in the competition and registered for it online.
The competition was held on Saturday the 24th of August,2019. It commenced around 8:30 am at the University of Ibadan’s main gate with other competitors from different schools like Federal University of Technology Akure, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ekiti State University, Lead City University, and The Polytechnic, Ibadan.
The 10km marathon race was from the school’s main gate around the school premise, and back to the entrance. In the long run, Gilardino placed 3rd position while Muhammad Mojeed( A student of the Department of Physical and Health Education, University of Ibadan) and Sesugh( A 500l student of the Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Ibadan) emerged the 1st and 2nd position respectively. The trio was compensated for their outstanding performance and was also given a certificate of participation alongside other participants.
When asked how he felt about his position, Gilardino said he is grateful to God because placing third position overall wasn’t that bad, though he expected more. He said he’d go back to school, train hard and give a brilliant performance at his next competition – The All African Universities Cross Country race coming up November this year at Morocco. For this, there will be trials among University students in Nigeria before anyone can qualify to represent their q institution and Nigerian Universities.
His driving force, Hammed mentioned, is his love for sport. “I engage in sport because I love it even though I spend more money than I make from athletics,” he said.
Gilardino also thanked the school’s athletic team for the effort made in training.
