Sports
Nigeria Wins 7 Gold Medals At Africa Youth Championships
The country’s representatives to the Africa Youth Championships in Morocco have returned to Lagos with seven gold medals, three silver and two bronze.
Out of the seven gold medals, weightlifting had three, while the rest and the silver and bronze were shared by swimming, wrestling, tennis and athletics.
Boxing, Table tennis and Taekwondo did not win any medal because they were walked over due to the contingent’s late arrival in Morocco for the competition.
The event started on July 13 but the contingent departed the country on July 14 and reached the venue on July 15.
Those who spoke to Tide sports source urged the federal government to ensure early preparation and departure of athletes to competitions, not only to avoid being walked over but for enhanced performance.
The athletes described their experience at the tournament as frustrating.
Rachael Ekoshoria, a weightlifter, said they had no time to prepare before competing in the championships when they arrived at the venue, saying it affected their performance.
“We ought to be in Morocco at least three days before the competition begins so that we can settle down and familiarise ourselves with the environment and facilities,’’ she said.
Ekoshoria also complained of lack of supplements for athletes to use after training to replace lost energy and bring out the best in them.
Abba Adamu, a taekwondoist said he was walked over because of late arrival, adding that “the officials have finished with our category before we got there.
“The development left us without opportunity to participate in the competition.’’
He also complained of lack of modern facilities for them to prepare at home adding that “I have never seen or used the kind of facilities there; even the body protector is computerised.
“Although I did not participate but I gained exposure which will help me at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August and future tournaments.
“The NSC should as a matter of urgency update facilities for all sports so that Nigerian athletes can excel at international tournaments,’’ he added.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor