Older athletes should receive prizes in races and not just the younger ones

Dear Editor,

I would like to say thanks to all those who sponsor athletics, but ask them to please stop disrespecting the elders – I mean those aged 50 to 55. We pay the same fees to take part in a race, and we even beat athletes who are 18 and 19 years old, but at the end there is no prize for us.

We are the backbone of the game and we set the pace for the youth. Whenever Mr Hassan Mohamed holds a cycle race, everybody gets a prize from the young to the oldest; even the 60-year-old man or woman receives a prize.

If this letter offends anyone who is over 50 and can’t take part in athletics because of their fitness, I am very sorry, but I do both running and cycling and I thank God for my strength.

Yours faithfully,
Maurice Fagundes