Poor Durban show prompted AFN trials—Olumide
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) on Monday said the country’s poor performance at the recent Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Championships in Durban, South Africa, necessitated the national trials.
AFN Secretary-General Bamiduro Olumide told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the trials would help assess the current performance of athletes before the Rio Olympics.
The national trials will hold at the All-Nigeria Athletics Championships scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Sapele, Delta.
Team Nigeria won 15 medals in Durban, made up of four gold, five silver and six bronze, to place a disappointing third.
The performance clearly sent warning signals about the state of the Nigerian team ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games scheduled for Aug. 5 to Aug. 21 in Rio, Brazil.
“We want to see athletes’ current performances and make our selection, because we don’t want any disappointment,” Olumide said.
He however said the trials was open to all athletes who have met the Olympic standard in their respective events.
Olumide further stated that participating athletes and other officials were expected to start to arrive from today for the trials.
The AFN official nonetheless could not give the number of athletes expected, but disclosed that foreign-based athletes were also being expected.
