Nigerian athletes not programmed to win olympics medals, says Ajunwa

Winning in international competitions requires a lot of hard work and a lot of money, which unfortunately are not available to Nigerian athletes. That is the opinion of Olympic gold medalist, Chioma Ajunwa, who attributed the country’s failures in past editions of the Olympic Games to inadequate investment by the country on the athletes.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Ajunwa stated that for Nigerian athletes to compete with the best in the world, the government and corporate bodies must invest in them.

The police officer, who expressed concerns over Team Nigeria’s level of preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan, said most of the athletes that represented Nigeria in past games would have succeeded against the best in the world if they were properly prepared for the games.

“It is a sad development that Nigerian athletes have found it difficult to win medals at the Olympics. Winning a medal weather, gold, silver or bronze at the Olympics is not an easy task because the athletes face the best in the world. The way athletics is administered in Nigeria is not right.

“For Nigeria to win medals at the Olympics, enough money need to be invested on athletes and facilities,” she said. 

Ajunwa added: “The day the country realises that sports is big business, which needs proper funding to get the best from athletes, that is when the country will thrive at the Olympics.

“For athletes to win medals at the Olympics, a lot of things must be put in place. In other climes, when an athlete is spotted, he is given special training and exposure continuously before the Olympic year.

“It is not like that in Nigeria. Nigeria lack good management of their sports stars,” she said.