SAN FRANCISCO, December 08, (THEWILL) – The second phase of Nigeria’s preparations for the Olympics in Tokyo, which was postponed to next year, has commenced as three centres were designated for the exact purpose of preparing athletes for their various events.
The centres are located in Port Harcourt in Rivers State, Yenagoa in Bayelsa State and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja according to a statement by Simeon Ebhojiaye, who is the Acting Director of Field and Elites Athletes in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development. Athletes will be camped at these centres for a three-week period.
“In Port Harcourt, 14 track and field athletes under the supervision of two coaches are in camp; in Abuja, eight para-athletes, 14 para table tennis players, and eight weightlifters are in camp, while eight wrestlers are camped in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State under the supervision of two coaches.”
The statement indicated that the first phase of camping was conducted at the High Altitude training center, Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Plateau State with four athletes in attendance whose preparations required these conditions.
“The Pankshin camp was used as a prelude to reviving middle and long-distance races in the country.
“The first phase of camping held from November 20 to December 9, while the second would take place from December 7 to 24,” the statement read.
The International Olympic Committee has earmarked July 23, 2021 as the kickoff date of the Tokyo Olympics after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Previously, the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and Tokyo Metropolitan Government had announced the Games will take place from July 23 to August 8, next year. The announcement also noted the Paralympic Games will take place from August 24 to September 5 of 2021.
Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics were originally scheduled to hold from July 24 to August 9 in Japan’s capital city.
However, with waves of coronavirus spikes across the globe and some countries announcing the withdrawal of their athletes if the Games were not postponed, Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo made a recommendation to the IOC and they announced on March 24 that the Olympics would be postponed to a date beyond 2020 but no later than the summer of 2021.
