Reigning Nigeria long jump indoor record holder at 8.26m, Charlton Ehizuelen has hailed the progress the track and field team is making at their Atlanta,USA camp under new national coach,Innocent Egbunike and believes the team can surprise Nigerians by winning medals at the London Olympics this summer.
Ehizuelen who visited the team’s camp at the weekend on the invitation of Egbunike is confident the athletes he saw in Atlanta will not be in London to make up the numbers.
‘’I’m impressed with the dedication the athletes are showing towards their training.I noticed that they have the self-belief that they can do Nigeria proud at the Olympics inspite of odds.
The spirit is good and there is a general sense of purpose in what they are doing’’,said Ehizuelen who rose to national prominence in 1973 when he won the long and triple jump titles at the first National Sports Festival n Lagos.
Regarded as Nigeria’s greatest long jumper of all time, Ehizuelen commended the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC) Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi for contracting Egbunike to handle Team Nigeria track and field team to the London Games.
He urged Mallam Abdullahi to start planning for the 2016 games immediately. He revealed there are many Nigerians, who are ready to ensure that the nation’s lost glory is restored not just in athletics, but in all sports.
If the minister can do this, we will not just excel in athletics in Brazil, but in all sports. Innocent (Egbunike) is a Nigerian who has excelled on the track as an athlete in different parts of the world, he has done the same as a coach in different places, there are many Nigerians like him in different sports, it will be good if the Minister brings them all together after the Olympics so that we could start planning for Rio 2016 immediately” conclude Ehizuelen who in recognition of his feats in athletics was in 1987 inducted into the U.S. Drake Relays Hall of Fame in DesMoines, Iowa, alongside such other athletics greats as Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Jim Ryun, Michael Johnson, Mike Boit, Marlene Ottey and Nawal El Moutawakel.
