EVENTS


EVENT:


Debut of the rookie team brings runners from developing countries to this international event By Nicholas K. Smith, OPEC Fund


Vienna City Marathon 2022


OPEC FUND SPONSORS “ROOKIE RUNNERS” FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES


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or the 12th time, the OPEC Fund for International Development was one of the main sponsors of the Vienna City Marathon, which took place on April 24, 2022. Runners from the OPEC Fund, as well


as family members joined an estimated 32,000 other participants who took part in this year’s series of races. The Fund also hosted a hospitality tent at the finish line that drew staff members and their families. The race is one of the largest sporting


events in Austria and the course passes by OPEC Fund’s headquarters on the historic Ringstrasse. The event marks an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the


Fund’s strong ties with its host city Vienna. This year marked the debut of the OPEC Fund Marathon rookie team, a joint initiative with the marathon organizers that gave runners from developing countries the opportunity to take part in the event. Victor Serem and Dickson Kiptoo, two young men from Kenya, and Fanose Tessema Gonfa and Chaltu Fikasu Marama, two young women from Ethiopia, demonstrated their potential to race at the highest level on a stage that regularly attracts professional runners from all over the world. The rookies delivered beyond


expectations with Dickson finishing 11th and Victor 12th in the men's race, while Chaltu finished 10th and Fanose 13th in the women's marathon. Austrian media as well as specialized websites reported the results. The Fund’s support allowed the members of the rookie team to complete an integral step in their careers as runners. This is not the first time the OPEC Fund has hosted a special program during the Vienna City Marathon weekend. In 2016, the Fund sponsored 100 children from two Viennese schools that have integrated students from refugee and asylum-seeking families into established classrooms.


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