The secretary-general of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Prince Adeniyi Adisa Beyioku has declared that the track and field governing body has its eyes set firmly on ensuring the country’s athletes excel at this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, megasportsarena.com reports.
Speaking against the backdrop of the body’s season opening all-comers competition on Saturday at Federal University of Technology in Akure, Ondo state capital, Beyioku stressed that the event was part of he AFN’s efforts at preparing adequately for the Tokyo 2021 Games.
He added that Saturday’s competition, which is the AFN’s first event in the 2021 calendar of events, was designed to help home-based athletes gauge their level of preparedness for the National Sports Festival which begins on Valentine’s Day, next month in Benin City, Edo state.
He further disclosed that the AFN have written messages of notification to all the states across the country, urging them to make their athletes available for all programmes on the calendar for 2021, starting with last Saturday’s competition in The Sunshine State.
The AFN scribe further revealed that Nigeria’s track and field training camp for the Olympics will open immediately after the festival at the end of February into early March, adding that the athletics federation has mapped out plans to ensure all its objectives are achieved.
Beyioku declared: “Our sights are firmly on the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and our programme of activities for the elite athletes is geared towards getting the them ready to qualify for their respective events and of course for the relays.
“Nigeria has not qualified for any of the five relay events scheduled for Tokyo and some of our athletes based here at home are integral parts of whatever relay teams we are putting together hence the need to offer them competition that will help in their training.
“We want to qualify all our relay teams for the Olympics. There are now five relay teams because of the 4x400m mixed relays that has been added to the schedule. We will organise evaluation meets for athletes in camp and others.
“With the objective of keeping those in camp on their feet. It is going to be elimination by substitution after each meet before the trials where the final team will be picked for the Tokyo Games.”
