A technical course for coaches in table tennis has been held in Addis Ababa from April 17-23, 2007. The International coaching course for ITTF Level One Coaches was given to 28 trainees from the nine regional states and two city administrations. Olympic Solidarity, Ethiopian Olympic Committee and Ethiopian Table Tennis Federation as well as International Table Tennis Federation organized the course. According to the trainer Mr. Sylvain Chermette, “In the immediate future the country will not be a world leader in high level table tennis like Germany, but if motivation and passion count for anything, their progress will be rapid and standard of table tennis in the country will no doubt grow. The Ethiopian National Team was third at the African Table Tennis Championship in 2004 and could be regular claimant to African titles and medals in the next few years.”

Ethiopian Olympic Committee, in collaboration with International Olympic Committee, has recently organized a four-day Sports Medicine Course for National Coaches. The course attended by 27 coaches drawn from national sports federations took place from April 25-28, 2007 in Addis Ababa. Participants appreciated the course and called for its conduct at all regional states and city administrations. Mr. Zerihun Biyadigilgn, a senior instructor who offered the training, on his part lauded EOC for making all national coaches of all federations attend the course and urged the consolidation of the effort, while calling on the trainees to implement the knowledge they have acquired.

The first Ethiopian Olympic Marathon runner, Seargent Bashaye Feleke passed away late last month due to poor health. The 91-year-old athlete represented Ethiopia at the 16th Melbourne Olympiad held in Australia in 1956. At this Olympiad, where Ethiopia took part for the first time, the marathon runner managed to stand 21st. Sergeant Bashaye is survived by his wife and seven children.