Frank Fredericks (extreme left) is joined by his fellow inductees at the Gala ceremony in Alexandria (© JAPPO)
Namibia’s Frank Fredericks, the 1993 World 200m champion, was inducted into the Africa Sport Hall of Fame at a Gala Night in Alexandria, Egypt on Saturday night (14).
The gala marked the conclusion of the third edition of the Africa International Sport Convention (CISA) with the ceremony featuring a display of Egyptian folklore and culture.
Fredericks, who is now retired as an athlete, is Vice-Chairman of the IAAF Athletes’ Commission. During his tremendous career he was a multiple global sprint medallist, and most significantly as well as his aforementioned World outdoor title in 1993 took the World Indoor 200m crown in 1999 as well as remarkable sets of silver medals over 100m and 200m at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.
Many times a winner at the African Games and African Championships, Fredericks also took World Cup and Commonwealth titles and notably ran the World indoor record for 200m (19.92 sec) in 1996.
The achievements of Ram Ruhee, the founding President of the NOC of Mauritius, who passed away on 21 October aged 81 after a long battle with illness were also recognised. Ruhee played a significant role in the development of sport both in Africa and on his native island of Mauritius. He founded the country's Olympic Committee in 1972 and went on to become a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s executive committee. He was later named an honorary member of the IOC and received the Olympic Order of Merit at the Beijing Games last summer.
The late Ruhee's induction trophy was handed over to his friend Lassana Palenfo on the request of his widow.
The fourth edition of CISA will happen in March 2010 in South Africa. The date will be announced later.
Other 'Jappo Awards 2009' inductees on the night were:
Best Direction of sports infrastructure: Presented to Nigeria
Fair Play: Idrissa Bah, President of the Malian Athletics Federation.
Humanitarian actions in sport: Marathon de la Paix (marathon for peace).
Sport Development Trophy: FIFA (it will be presented at the ceremony of drawing lots of World Cup Under-17 years in Egypt).
Trophy of Merit: General Mounir Sabet, IOC Member and President of Olympic Committee of Egypt.
Trophy for the Promotion of Sports among people with a Disability: Secretary General of the Sports with Disability in Niger, Harouna Ousmane.
