by Ezinne Ajoku

Nigerians are a tale of thriving in the midst of adversity; succeeding in spite of challenges and smiling whilst suffering but I don’t know if this hard knock life culture will be sufficient to see our athletes emerging as medalists at Rio 2016. It feels like a lot to ask of them for the following reasons;

World class and top notch competitors

The Olympics competition held every four years is a gathering of the best athletes each competing nation can showcase. Nigerian athletes try. They really do. But they are not the best the world has. Expectedly, when they go up against better athletes, they will crumble. It does serve to help them test their mettle though.

According to NigerianEye.com, Nigeria’s sprint queen Blessing Okagbare recently admitted that only something in the region of 10.5 seconds can win 100 metres in the Rio Games. But she won her seventh 100m Nigerian title in Sapele some weeks ago in 11.06 seconds. It’s obvious that for her to be at the podium, efforts must be doubled. And we expect a medal. Really?

Absence of Standard Training Facilities

What do our football pitches look like? Our basketball stadiums? We do not have basic training facilities for the various sporting events. Whereas you can expect to find state of the art facilities at The Olympics. Wouldn’t the Nigerian athletes need a bit of training to understand how some of these sporting gadgets work? Cluelessness might easily be our undoing.

Nigerian Athletes are taken for granted

Countries do not play with The Olympics; they do not play with sports; they do not play with their athletes. Other countries except Nigeria, I mean. Nigerian athletes are treated with derision, contempt and outright mockery. About the only sport that is even treated with a bit of respect here is football. Still, what did Dalung do to the the dream team this Olympics? It’s terrible how much our people are taken for granted. Information was circulated around the beginning of the Olympics saying that the Federal Government was not going to pick up the tab for the athletes’ transportation so athletes went on social media to beg for funds a few days to the event. And we expect them to bring back medals? Are we jokers?

Too few athletes

For instance in weightlifting, we only have one athlete competing. “Failure of Oluwatoyin Adesami, who will compete in 107kg, will mean failure in this very sport that usually place the country on the global map.”

Lack of adequate preparation

Nigerian athletes are hard workers but it is doubtful if their dedication is equal or at least commensurate to what their colleagues from other countries put in. You can’t give what you don’t have. And talent does not automatically grant a Grade A Olympic performance. Constant, gruelling training does. How many trainers do the Nigerian athletes have? How often through the past 4 years have they invested in training for this sport. Thankfully, we are a religious country and we believe in miracles.

So keep praying Nigeria, get the churches and mosques involved. It just might turn the tide.