Ogba Assures Of Good Outing At London Olympics

President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, Solomon Ogba, has said athletics will give Nigeria a lift at next year’s Olympic Games in London.

Ogba said that with the current form and performance of the Nigerian athletes, he is sure of good outing for the country at the Summer Games.

“Bearing no major setback in terms of injury to our athletes I forsee Nigeria taking the world by storm at the Olympics, just like we did in Atlanta ‘96, through Chioma Ajunwa in the long jump event,” the AFN boss said.

Ogba,however, expressed sadness over the country’s failure to dominate African athletics at the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique in the outgoing year like it used to do

He said: “I will like Nigerians to watch out for our athletes at the Summer Olympics. I am sure we won’t disappoint them and hopefully we will win a couple of gold medals.,” he said.

He refuted the claim that Nigeria had a poor outing in Deagu, where the World Athletics Championships ended with Nigeria not winning a single medal.

“No, we did not fail. We were in the final of five events. The athletes performed to the best of their abilities. I feel they should be commended. It is not easy being among the best five or eight in the world. It was a keenly contested Championships and I salute the athletes who defended Nigeria’s flag in Deagu,” Ogba said.

—Bamidele Olowosagba