Gold medallist Esther Oyema of Nigeria kisses her medal
Gold medallist Esther Oyema of Nigeria kisses her medal during the Victory Ceremony for the women?s -48 kg Powerlifting at ExCeL.
Nigerian athletes and officials at the on-going Paralympic Games in London have praised the National Sports Commission for ensuring they had quality training and preparations for the Games.
Speaking in London, Yakubu Adesokan, who won gold in power-lifting, attributed the success of the team to the exceptional training and exposure they had received on the road to London.
“I am so grateful for the kind of training we received in Nigeria and later South Korea. I specially thank the National Sports Commission for ensuring we started camping early and for selecting camps with world-class facilities,” he said.
Similarly, gold medallist, Ivorie Nwokorie, said the support of the Commission was instrumental for her success. “Apart from the camp in Korea, the NSC also provided us with new wheel chairs and the right weight equipment which is the same used by the best athletes in the world.
“It also helped that we have received all our training and camping allowances and so we do not have to worry about that,” she said.
Nwokorie praised her coaches for demonstrating high level of commitment and technical know-how.
“They have shown that that they are very capable of coaching people with disability and prepared us physically and mentally for the Games.”
So far, Nigerian athletes have won four gold and four silver medals and are seventh on the medals table. And the team appears set to surpass the country’s all-time record of five gold medals at the Games.
Secretary of the Power-lifting Federation of Nigeria, Akinyele Oladapo, believes the team will surpass all previous records because they had the best preparations ever for the Games.
According to him, “the support we received from the NSC, from the beginning of the qualifiers up to the Paralympics surpassed the previous preparations for a Paralympic Game. The morale support from the Honourable Minister of Sports also boosted the confidence of the athletes and gave them a sense of purpose, propelling them to put in their best performances.”
Besides local competitions and qualifiers, Nigerian Paralympic athletes were camped in Jinju and Gwangyang in South Korea for two months, the longest they have been hosted in offshore facilities.
