By Bunmi Ogunyale
Thirteen years after Chika Chukwumerije won a bronze medal in the taekwondo event of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, 22-year-old Elizabeth Anyanacho, who is the first woman in 16 years to represent Nigeria in the taekwondo event of the Tokyo Olympic Games will be aiming to repeat Chukwumerije’s feat.
However, this long hiatus for Nigeria in the sport has set tongues wagging over the fortunes of the sport in the country. While some taekwondists are of the view that the out-going Margaret Binga-led board of Nigeria Taekwondo Federation has performed well in office, others argue to the contrary.
2019 African Games gold medalist, Chinazum Nwosu believes that under the Binga-led board, the sport has witnessed several successes especially in terms of athletes ranking, grading, and organization of tournaments.
“I want to tell you that so much has changed under the Binga-led board especially when it comes to the ranking system, selection of athletes for major competitions as well as Kukkiwon Grading system. Prior to the outgoing board, we had no ranking as athletes are selected randomly to represent the country.”