Team Nigeria’s US Tour Not A Waste, Says Ex-AFN President
The Former President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Solomon Ogba, says Nigeria’s athletes tour of the United States ahead of the Tokyo Olympics is not a waste.
After missing the Poland Relays due to visa issues, Team Nigeria joined the tour of US while some felt it was a wasteful venture since top Nigerian athletes like Blessing Okagbare and Divine Oduduru couldn’t be part of it due to their busy schedule.
Ogba travelled to the United States last week, and was present at the 2021 USTAF Open Meet in Dallas, Texas on May 18, where some Nigerian athletes competed against their counterparts from other countries, including some top American runners.
“It wasn’t a bad idea by the Sports Ministry to take Team Nigeria to the tour of U.S,” Ogba said in an interview.“I agree the primary aim of the tour is to qualify the relay teams for the Tokyo Olympics, but the athletes needed to run well individually to be able to compete for the qualification tickets in the relays.”
“I watched the athletes at the USTAF Open Meet in Dallas on Tuesday (May 18), and I was impressed with their performance. For instance, Enoch Adegoke and Grace Nwokocha were able to hold their own against Americans, who are among the best 100m runners in the world at the moment,” he added.
“I read some media reports that Nigerian athletes performed poorly at the meet. That is wrong. They (journalists) should have considered the circumstances under which our athletes ran, including the terrible wind.”
In the men’s 100m at the ongoing USATF Open in Texas, Enoch Adegoke finished 3rd in his heat with a time of 10.46s, running into a headwind blowing at -1.2m/s. He qualified for thw final while the race was won by Marvin Bracy in 10.33s as Michael Rodgers placed 2nd in 10.42s. pic.twitter.com/U5co9NkICc
— Making of Champions (@MakingOfChamps) May 18, 2021
“Such negative reports coming from our media is capable of demoralising the athletes. They should stop that,” Ogba added.
Team Nigeria will participate in a relay event in Texas on May 25th, before relocating to Florida for their last event scheduled for May 30.
Meanwhile, the city of Lagos is preparing to host the African Senior Athletics Championships in June. The original host country, Algeria, pulled out last week.
Ogba said Nigeria is in the race to host the championship, which Asaba, Delta State hosted in 2018.
“The CAA (Confederation of African Athletics) will make a pronouncement on it soon to help the athletes plan their calendar,” Ogba said. “For now, the competition is still on the card because it has a lot of importance for African countries going to the Olympics.”
Two other countries, Tunisia and Zambia, are also in the race to host the event.
Chidi Nwoke/The Guardian.
