BEVERLY HILLS, April 13, (THEWILL) –Â With one day left before the end of the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) holding in Benin, Edo2020, as Teams from various states jostle to give their respective states a pride of place on the medals table, there are others that have not been so fortunate.
For instance, there have been no podium finishes for athletes from Jigawa and Taraba as their Teams are yet to register themselves on the table of the fiesta as of Monday evening for an event that commenced on Good Friday, April 2 and will end on Wednesday and which has already seen a total of 1,308 medals claimed so far.
The competition, which has been fiercely contested by sportsmen and women with record-breaking wins in a smattering of events and categories, has witnessed the medal wins by Teams from 34 of the participating states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
As at Monday evening, a breakdown of the Edo2020 medals table revealed that it has given out 386 gold, 383 silver, and 539 bronze medals. Of these, the leading Team Delta has stubbornly maintained its iron grip at the top, which it has occupied from the beginning.
Team Delta has demonstrated a fierce commitment to excellence across all events and this is illustrated in their leading stance in two of the three medal categories, of gold and silver, and only has one bronze medal less than Team Edo, the hosts, who have climbed to and maintained the second slot.
Team Delta currently boasts an enviable haul of 257 medals at the fiesta of which 103 are gold, 82 silver, and 72 bronze medals. Team Edo is next with 241 medals; 88 gold, 80 silver, and 73 bronze. Formerly second but, having been overtaken by the hosts, now sit in third is Team Bayelsa with 41 gold, 40 silver, and 43 bronze medals which comes up to 124 medals in all.
For the remainder of the top five, which all happen to be coastal States, the medal table has Rivers and Lagos as occupying the fourth and fifth positions. Team Rivers has 24 gold, the same number of silver, but 39 bronze medals so far while Team Lagos is surprisingly far behind the leading teams with only 19 gold, 23 silver, and 39 bronze medals near the end of the fiesta.
At the other end of the table, among the last five, only Teams Sokoto, Benue, and Kebbi have any medals to talk about but all in the bronze medal category. Team Sokoto has three and Teams Benue and Kebbi have managed just two apiece.
For the athletes from the last two states on the table, from Taraba and Jigawa States, they have until Wednesday to prove to themselves and their sponsors that there was a good reason for them to participate in the games, even if it is with a bronze medal, at the very least.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
