Sports Events
Sports Highlight
Sierra Leone is also becoming an increasingly popular destination for sporting events. A regular appointment is the Tour of Lunsar, a cycling event taking place over four days, and the Sierra Leone Marathon and Cycling Challenge, taking place every year in the northern part of the country to raise money for charity.
Are you the kind of tourist that likes to stay active even when you’re travelling? Or perhaps you’re an expat, planning to move to Sierra Leone for a period of time, and you’re wondering how you can keep up with your favourite sport?
In this article, we’d like to talk about the most popular sports in Sierra Leone, including ideas on some sporting events to join. Ready, steady, GO!
Tour of Lunsar
Starting out as a local race, the Tour of Lunsar has grown over just a few years to become the largest cycling race in West Africa, a region where cycling is still very much an emerging sport.
The Tour of Lunsar was created by the Lunsar Cycling Club, based in the northern town of the same name. The race takes place in April and includes a one day junior race, a women’s race in two stages, and a men’s race over three stages.
International cyclists are welcome to join and compete against the Sierra Leonean cycling community for the leader’s jersey. Since the Tour of Lunsar has no UCI recognition and receives no funding except from sponsors, the organizers hope more and more international athletes will choose to race the Tour of Lunsar in the future.
Sierra Leone Marathon & Cycling Challenge
This run and cycle challenge is not actually a race, it’s more of an adventure across the rainforest and remote villages in northern Sierra Leone to raise money for Street Child, a charity operating in 22 countries around the world.
The Sierra Leone Marathon & Cycling Challenge usually takes place between late April and early May, and participants have the option to run a full, half marathon, 5 or 10 km, or cycle 70 km around Makeni.
All races start in the early morning and end at the stadium of Makeni, where participants will be able to celebrate with a fresh beer or a coconut and an exclusive hand-carved wooden medal. When signing up, participants can choose to book a 3-day package, including transport from Freetown to the race and back plus accommodation, or a 5-day package including a well deserved rest on Sierra Leone’s stunning beaches.
