23rd November, 2012
The Ekiti State Director of Sports, Olukayode Adewunmi, said that Team Ekiti’s compact 150-man contingent for the 18th National Sports Festival (NSF) will make its presence felt at the 14-day fiesta.
Adewunmi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the size of its contingent would not hamper the performance of the athletes in any way.
He said that Team Ekiti would feature in 15 events, namely: athletics, badminton, boxing, gymnastics, hockey, taekwondo and tennis.
Others are: traditional sports (Ayo Olopon), kickboxing, weightlifting, volleyball, handball, football, special sports and squash.
The director added that the athletes are rounding up their preparations in their bid to surpass their 20th position the state placed at the 2011 “Garden City Games” in Port Harcourt.
“We are currently putting finishing touches to our preparations; we are coming into Lagos with just 150 athletes, which is rather small, in comparison to other states.
“ We are not coming with a multitude; we are coming with athletes that will do us proud by the grace of God. We are working hard at surpassing our record at the last sports festival.”
“At the last festival, we came 20th with four gold, three silver and eight bronze medals. Our target is to at least win medals in all the events we are competing in,” Adewunmi said
Adewunmi said that the athletes were highly motivated and are fully set for the “Eko 2012 showdown”.
“The spirit is high in camp because the athletes have been sufficiently motivated by the state government and they are ready to give their all at the festival,” Adewunmi added.