DIACK

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC):

ORGANISERS OF the 2008 CARIFTA Games this weekend in St Kitts are preparing to welcome the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack.

By virtue of its standards, the CARIFTA Games is a world-class event and Diack will be a guest of the St Kitts and Nevis Amateur Athletic Association (SKNAAA).

"On the occasion of the staging of the 37th edition of the CARIFTA Games in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis on March 21 to 24, the executive of the St Kitts and Nevis Amateur Athletic Association is pleased to announce that it will be graced with the presence of Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)," organisers stated in a press release.

The annual three-day meet, which has unearthed such outstanding Caribbean talent in the past two decades as reigning World and Olympic sprint champion Veronica Campbell, Bahamian Debbie Ferguson, Barbadian Obadele Thompson, Trinidad and Tobago's Darrel Brown and Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis, starts on Saturday.

Much delight

"The SKNAAA looks forward with much delight and anticipation of the visit of President Diack and his entourage from the IAAF," the release stated.

Originally from Senegal in West Africa, Diack is a former long jumper and football coach.

He was elected IAAF president in November 1999 and has also been the president of the National Olympic and Sport Committee of Senegal since 1974.