Sports
Nigeria Begins Quest For Olympics Spots In Relay
Team Nigerian have started their quest for tickets to all five relay events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in other countries at the World Athletics Relays, which began last Saturday in Nassau, Bahamas.
The two-day global event was suspected to feature 893 athletes from 54 countries vie for slots at the centenary games last Saturday and Sunday, as confirmed by World Athletics.
The event serves as a qualifier for the Paris Olympics, with the top 14 teams in each event at the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 qualifying automatically for places at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The remaining two places in each discipline will be awarded based on top lists during the qualification period (December 31, 2022, to June 30, 2024).
Team Nigeria is currently ranked second in Africa after Kenya and 16th best in the world after clinching gold in the 4x100m, bronze in the 4x400m, one fourth and fifth place finish, and three seventh place finishes for a total of 29 points at the World Relays.
The women’s 100m hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan, headlines the list of 29 athletes confirmed to represent Nigeria at the event.
Amusan has been instrumental to Nigeria’s recent success in the women’s 4x100m relay, securing gold at both the African Games and Commonwealth Games, the latter being rescinded due to a doping infraction by another member of the relay team.
The 26-year-old is joined by Nigeria’s 200m record holder Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma, Justina Eyakpobeyan, Tima Godbless, Elo Blessing, and African Games double sprint medalist Olayinka Olajide.
A surprise omission from the men’s 4x100m team list is Favour Ashe, Nigeria’s fastest man this year with two sub-10 second finishes (9.96 seconds and 9.99 seconds)
The 21-year-old Auburn University undergraduate has been in excellent outdoor form, yet his name was left out of the final entry list released by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria.
No reason has been provided for his exclusion, though sources suggest the sprinter was not released by his university to be in the Bahamas.
With this development, Godson Oghenebrume and Udodi Onwuzurike will lead Nigeria’s charge in the men’s 4x100m, alongside Alaba Akintola, Karlington Anunagba, Consider Ekanem, Seye Ogunlewe, and Israel Okon Sunday.
Their goal is to secure a top-14 finish and earn a coveted lane at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a feat Nigeria has not achieved since the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.