No More Grandpas on the Track: A Gambian Athlete’s Plea for Fairness

A young Gambian athlete who loves running and competing in school events. He train hard every day, hoping to represent my school and my country in national and international competitions. But there is a big problem that threatens his dreams and the dreams of many other young athletes like him: the fake age athletes.

Fake athletes are those who are not students, but pretend to be one. They are well beyond their 25 years, but they fake their birthdates and student papers. They participate in school events that are meant for students, such as interhouse and interschool. They run against us, who are 18 years old or younger, and they have an unfair advantage. They are stronger, faster, and more experienced than us. They take away our medals, our trophies, and our opportunities. They are cheating and they are wrong.

I call them grandpas, because they are old enough to be our grandparents. They have no business being on the track with us. They should leave the school events to the students, and compete in their own age group. They should respect the rules and the spirit of fair play. They should not ruin the future of Gambian athletics.

I call out to the authorities to disqualify all schools that are using these grandpas on the track in competitions like interhouse or interschool. We as the Athletics Academy and as the Gambian Connection Group will intensify the reports about such athletes this year. We will expose them and demand justice. We will not let them get away with their fraud.

I respect elder athletes, but in school competitions they have absolutely nothing to do there. Leave the grandpas out, I want to shout out here! Let us have a fair and honest competition, where the best student athletes can shine and make their country proud.

#NoMoreGrandpas #FairPlay #GambianAthletics #StudentAthletes #StopTheFraud