Paris Olympics: We’re ready to surpass previous achievements – NOC
By Emmanuel Afonne
The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) said on Tuesday that it has put everything on ground to surpass the achievements of the country at previous Olympics.
President of NOC, Habu Gumel, said this while receiving the reports of committees on its constitution review and the refurbishment of sports infrastructure especially at Amuwo Odofin Olympic Sports Village in Lagos.
Gumel said that 80 athletes had so far qualified for the Olympics while additional five athletes were expected to join the team if they eventually qualify.
“We are calling this meeting to update Nigerians on our preparation for the Olympics scheduled to hold from July 26 to August 11 in Paris and to receive the reports of two committees set up for the progress of NOC.
“On the constitution review, NOC executive committee, the board, general assembly and the International Olympic Committee will look at the report before we say this is our final constitution.
“Those outside the country are already training and sports federations like boxing, weightlifting, wrestling and canoeing have started local trainings too.
“Some are in Germany, while some are in America; so, arrangement is on for us to achieve podium success; the Ministry of Sports Development and the NOC are collaborating seriously to achieve success in Paris.
“The last time we won two gold medals was in Atlanta, USA, in 1996, by Chioma Ajunwa, in long jump and the U-23 Dream Team, so, we are working so hard to break the jinx in Paris,” Gumel said.
According to him, winning silver or bronze has never been a challenge to the country’s athletes, but getting gold.
This, he said, was the reason behind the robust preparation designed for Team Nigeria ahead of the Olympics.
The Secretary-General of NOC, Tunde Popoola, on his part, pleaded with the Federal Government to release enough funds on time to enable the country to achieve the desired result at the Olympics.
“Our preparation is fair enough going by the understanding between the NOC and the Ministry of Sports. NOC is in charge of the Olympics and the Ministry is their partner, unlike in the past when there used to be a discretional kind of arrangement.
“But this time around, we have a strong synergy between NOC and the Ministry, and that has made a lot of things work better.
“For the athletes, they have done so well in the various international meets, breaking and creating records; the only thing we need to do now is to sustain it through positive media reports,” Popoola said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sani Garun-Gabbas, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and the Chairman of the NOC constitution review committee, had earlier said the committee gathered a lot of experience while discharging their duty in the last four months.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Dianabasi Effiong
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