African Games: Federation expresses satisfaction with athletes’ performances

The Nigeria Arm-Wrestling Federation (NAWF) has expressed satisfaction with the performances of its athletes at the ongoing African Games in Ghana.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team won four gold, two silver, and seven bronze medals.

Olatunji Jackson, the president of NAWF, told NAN in a telephone interview that winning the medals was not easy.

“This is the first time we took athletes to the games. The federation has been in existence for about 12 years now.

”We didn’t see the need to rush in attending the Games. We prepared rigorously, and the preparation yielded positive results.

“We went with 15 athletes, and 13 of them won medals, and I must commend the athletes for their sportsmanship,” he said.

“We had a target of eight gold medals, but unfortunately, we got less due to officiating and technical issues.

“We have this behind us, and strategies are already in place to ensure that what caused us some gold medals won’t repeat itself at subsequent competitions.

“The Games are an eye opener for our athletes, a learning process, and also for exposure. This, of course, will help boost their confidence and morale,” he said.

He said that the athletes exhibited skills that were higher than what he expected from them.

“I saw a new element in the players; they were hungry for medals, and they put up their best while competing.”

Jackson said that a lot still needed to be done for the athletes to always get the best performance out of them.

“Their training must be improved, as well as their conditions of strength and techniques. Unfortunately, sports techniques keep evolving, and the athletes must keep abreast of this,” he said.

NAN