From ROMANUS UGWU, Abuja
Track queen, Mary Onyali, has expressed doubts over the possibility of Team Nigeria making any appreciable impact at the Rio 2016 Olympics arguing that apart from starting too late, it takes six to eight years for an athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.
Speaking in Abuja when the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) formally launched an official partner to provide online content of the Olympics events to Nigerians, Onyali tactically posited that attention should rather be focused on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
According to her; “I would have comfortably stayed behind in US but I choose to return and give back to the country that gave me everything. I find it extremely difficult to look at the faces of our athletes these days to see the torture they are going through daily, training to lift our green and white flag high.”
“They put in their best in every part of the world they are competing but unfortunately they get very minimal or no support. That alone contributed to my coming back to Nigeria. Sponsors and sponsorship in Nigerian sports is very difficult to find these days.
“Our athletes need them now more than ever. I have to do my best to team up and support the NOC and every other partner that may be participating in this programme. If our athletes are not going to the Olympics there would be no reason for any of us to be there.”
“I have always believed in three things, athletes centred, coaches’ lead, and sponsors or partners driven. The latter is the key to the other two. If we don’t have the sponsors and partners to contribute to the welfare of these athletes and coaches, all of us will have to reason going to Rio unless we want to just go as visitors.
“Although it is a bit late going to the Olympics, but it is better late than never. Our athletes have always been very resilient when it comes to showing surprises at the last minute. They are all over the world training, they don’t just want to go there to participate but to win medals, get a feel of what it is like and prepare themselves for the next edition.
“This Rio edition is not the only Olympics, we still have Tokyo 2020, the earlier the better. It takes six to eight years preparation to win an Olympics goal medal. We must key in the future and not just on Rio 2016 but to focus beyond it so that we can be better prepared. I challenge everyone inside and outside to support Team Nigeria sponsorship or partnership wise to win at least 10 gold medals in the 2020 Olympics,” she pleaded.