Tokyo 2020: Nigeria's Mixed 4x400m team excited by African Record set on debut

Although they would have been hoping to at least make the final of their event at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, Nigeria's Mixed 4x400m quartet comprising Emmanuel Ojeli, Imaobong Nse Uko, Samson Nathaniel and Patience Okon-George will leave the competition with their heads held high after storming to a new African Record of 3:13.60 to finish 5th in their semi final race.

Speaking after the race, Okon-George revealed that the squad is consoled by the African Record they set while competing at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. 

She said, "The last race we ran back in June was 3:14.09 and the 3:13.60 we ran today is good. We are happy with the new African Record. It was not easy running with 43second runners on the anchor leg. Now that we haven't made it to the final, I'm just going to be focused and get ready for the 400m. I think I'm good to go". 

Teammate Emmanuel Ojeli also revelled in the fact that the quartet made history by becoming the first African team to qualify for and compete at the Olympics. 

"We have been trying so hard to qualify in the 4x400m men and women so when we heard that the Mixed Relays was going to hold, we just needed to put ourselves together to qualify for the event. We are the first African team to qualify for the event at the Olympics and ran an African Record as well", he said.

The quartet will now set their sights towards qualifying for next year's World Championships in Oregon. 

61 Athletes to fly Team Nigeria Flag in Tokyo

Team Nigeria will depart for the Tokyo  2020 Olympics  in two batches with 61 athletes flying the country's flag, says Minister of Youth and sports Development Mr Sunday Dare.

The  Minister  made this  disclosure on Monday while  addressing the plenary meeting with National Sports Federations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

According to the Minister,
"The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020  affected the organisational structures of both the Olympic and Paralympic  Games. This consequently pushed International Federations (IFs) to review their international sporting calendar and qualification pathway for athletes in their quest to participate at the Games.

These challenges, no doubt were difficult to overcome, but could not stop us as a great nation in ensuring that our athletes are strongly supported and motivated to achieve this milestone.

"I must sincerely commend each and every one of you for your commitment and for standing together in this journey. Specifically, I thank President Muhammadu Buhari for his immense support in approving and ensuring that funds were released to enable our athletes attend series of
qualification tournaments.

As at today, Nigeria has qualified 61 athletes across 9 Sports for the
Olympics, and 22 athletes in 4 Sports for the Paralympic Games, which are: Athletics-22, Badminton-3,  Basketball-24, Canoe sprint-1, Gymnastic-1, Rowing-1, Taekwondo-1, TableTennis-1,  Wrestling-1 which sums up to 61 and for Paralympic Games we have;
Para Athletics-5, Para Powerlifting-10, power rowing-1, Para Table Tennis-6 summing up to 22."

The Minister further  said "The recent qualification of Nigeria for the Women’s 4x100m, Women’s 4x400m and 4x400m Mixed Relays was a significant achievement for the country, while still awaiting the World Athletics (WA) to ratify the slots in a  few days.

The Ministry in collaboration with the Nigerian Olympic Committee has
scheduled a 14-day Pre-Games Training Camp (PGTC) for the athletes in
Kisarazu , Japan. This move is to further expose the athletes to adequate
preparations ahead of their events as well as to give them ample time to adjust to the Japanese time zone. It is also strategic to meet with COVID-19
regulations. For the Olympic Games, the first batch of the athletes are scheduled to depart for Kisarazu on 6th July, 2021 while the second batch depart on 13th July, 2021. The paralympic Teams will depart in one batch on 8th August, 2021.

The Minister said  in order to ensure a hitch-free participation  in Tokyo, the Ministry had engaged four (4) Travel Agencies to handle flight tickets of Team Nigeria Contingents.

"As the Games are gradually approaching, I feel it would be necessary for us to finalize on our strategies towards ensuring podium success at both the Olympics and the  Paralympic Games",the Minister concluded.

Signed

*Media office of the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development*