Nigerians are still reacting to the country’s poor outing at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, returning with only two bronze medal in men’s 4 X 100 metres and 4 X 400 metres relay events. Segun Fayose, Multi-Choice Nigeria Public Relations Manager told nigeriasports.com that “poor management of Nigerian athletes by the Sports Ministry cost us good results at the Olympics.”
Speaking exclusively to Nigeriasports.com in his office Fayose said with the geographical size of Nigeria and a population in excess of 120 million people, “we could have done better than the two bronze medals.”
He called on the Ministry to start a new process of “discovering fresh athletes through grassroots development programmes.
Right now, most of our athletes have gone past their prime and there is an urgent need to replace them if we would compete for laurels at such global championships.”
“It is really sad that Nigerian athletes returned with just two bronze medals. But the truth is that inadequate preparation caused the country the shameful result and until we brace up to the challenges in sports globally, Nigeria will continue to perform poorly,” Fayose told nigeriasports.com
By Onyinye Anyanwu
Published: 2004-09-06 16:18:12
View article online: http://nigeriasports.com/1480
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