Obajimi Advises Nigerian Athletes

A board member of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, Gloria Obajimi, has advised Nigerian athletes participating in multiple sports to concentrate on the sport in which they have comparative advantage when they compete in a big tournament like the Olympic Games.

The former national record holder gave the advice as Team Nigeria compete for honors with their counterparts from other countries at the ongoing London 2012 Olympics Games.

Obajimi said that what should be paramount to the athletes who can feature in more than one sport is to discover the sport in which they know that they have the edge over the others.

“What many athletes don’t understand is that the Olympics is not just an ordinary tourney, where an athlete can feature without being sure of the sports in which he or she can give her best. This is what many Nigerian athletes don’t understand about the Olympics,” said Obajimi.

He said: “Olympics is at the pinnacle of every games if we consider the number of countries that participate in it. That’s why an athlete will give a good account of himself if he decides to put all his eggs in one basket and concentrate in a single sport.”

The AFN topshot said further that Chioma Ajunwa was able to win a gold medal at the Atlanta ‘96 Olympics Games because she concentrated only in the long jump event.

“Chioma Ajunwa won the first gold medal for Nigeria at the Atlanta Games because she focused only on long jump event. She didn’t tire out at the games because she had identified the event in which she had a comparative advantage,” Obajimi said.

-Bimbo Ajayi