Tokyo 2020: Sports Ministry’s Adoption Initiative Boost For Athletes
As the count down to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gathers momentum, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has assured that it is totally committed to the welfare of athletes as exemplified by the Adoption initiative.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare insists that athletes’ welfare remains top priority if Nigeria is cto excel at the global event in Tokyo.
Speaking on the success of the Adopt-An-Athlete Initiative, the Minister said: “The welfare of the athletes remains our priority and that is why we came up with the Adoption Campaign which has been quite rewarding. As I speak with you, athletes have got their money from their adopters. It is really an organic process and ours is to supervise the process.”
On the readiness of Team Nigeria for the Games, Dare said: “Nigeria is ready for Tokyo 2020 because the team has been preparing in the last four years. What we now see is that state of preparation that finally puts them where they want to be in terms of training, camping and attendance of international championships to sharpen their skills.
“We are working very hard to ensure that funds are released early enough.”
The Minister further disclosed that Nigeria will be competing in 11 sports as against the 22 that took part at the last Olympics in Rio 2016 . We want to ensure that resources are channelled where the country has comparative advantage.
He added that since Nigerian athletes would be competing with the best in the world,there is the need for early camping. ” We won’t compromise on standard,hence all hands are on deck to ensure a good outing in Tokyo. Nigeria deserves only the best”
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Below are the names of the Olympics-bound athletes that have qualified :
1. Ese Brume Women’s long jump
2. Amusan Tobi Women’s 100m hurdle
3. Blessing Okabare Women’s 100m/200m
4. Divine Oduduru Men’s 100m/200m
5. Raymond Okevwo Men’s 100m
6. Utseorise Itsekiri Men’s 100m
7. Chukwuemeka Enekechi Men’s shot put
8. Adekuroye Odunayo 57kg Women’s Weightlifting
9. D’Tigers) Men’s basketball
10. D’ Tigress) Women’s basketball
11. Bello Ayomide Women’s C1 canoe
12. Toko Esther Women’s single sculls
13. Elizabeth Ayanacho Women’s Taekwondo