August 01, (THEWILL) – The World Under-20 Athletics Championships, which gets underway on Monday, in Cali, Colombia, is an opportunity to scout the next group of athletes to represent Nigeria at upcoming international competitions and Games, according to Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) President, Tonobok Okowa.
From August 1 to August 8 in Cali, young and aspiring athletes will represent their countries in the competition at the age-level Championships. Team Nigeria has already arrived, ready to stand out in a competition Okowa rightly called “a breeding ground for us and most of our top stars today.”
Speaking on the Federation’s objective in the Championship, Okowa said: “Last year, we had an impressive outing at the U-20 Championships in Nairobi, where we achieved an unprecedented feat. Some of the athletes have now grown to become top stars and Nigeria’s national record holders today.
“Favour Ofili has grown to become the fastest Nigerian ever in the 200m event (21.96) after winning three medals in Nairobi, while Nnamdi Chinacherem Prosper is now Nigeria’s record holder in Javelin Throw (81.22m) … Nathaniel Ezekiel did not make it to the podium, but he is today the Nigeria record holder in the 400m hurdles, breaking a 35-year-old record set by Henry Amike at the 1987 World Athletics Championships in Rome, Italy.
“The exposure of the athletes is key to us. Some of the World and Olympic medallists we have produced never made it to podium at the World U-20 championships, but they built on that exposure to become medallists at global championships and Games.”
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.
