Tokyo 2020: Sports ministry fine-tunes for athletes’ success

Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth and Sports Development says has taken steps to consolidate the chances of athletes and teams at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by prioritizing 11 sports and six para sports for the country’s qualifying pathway to the Games.

A Ministerial Advisory Committee on Tokyo 2020 Games (MACT), which set this priority, also recommended an early start to pre-games camping towards ensuring maximum success.

The Ministerial Advisory Committee on Tokyo 2020 Games, chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Olusola Adesola, proposed 120 days of camping as it agreed to fast track the process of securing the services of highly skilled technical personnel to complement local coaches.

Adesola added that, “The recommendations of the inaugural meeting of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Tokyo 2020 Games (MACT 2020 held on Wednesday, December 9, 2019) was submitted and approved by the Honourable Minister of Youth & Sports Development for implementation.  Some of the specific recommendations approved are:

1).That the under listed 11 Sports for the Olympic and 5 Sports for the Paralympic have been prioritized for the qualifying pathway:

1)      Athletics         7) Rowing               1.      Para Athletics

2)      Badminton                   8)      Table Tennis       2.      Para Canoeing

3)      Basketball           9)      Taekwondo                  3.      Para Powerlifting

4)      Boxing                          10)    Weightlifting      4.      Para Rowing

5)      Canoeing             11)    Wrestling            5.      Para Table Tennis

6)      Gymnastics

ii)      That the final list of qualified athletes and sports would be confirmed after the completion of the two year qualification tournaments cycle in June 2020;

iii)     Acknowledged the qualification of the athletes listed below as at December 4, 2019:

OLYMPIC GAMES

                   a)      Athletics:

1.      Ese Brume (Women’s Long Jump)                  F

2.      Amusan Tobi (Women’s 100m Hurdles)        F

3.      Blessing Okagbare (100m/200m)           F

4.      Divine Oduduru (100m)                          M

5.      Raymond Okevwo (100m)                      M

6.      Usheorise Itshekiri (100m)                      M

7.      Chukwuebuka Enekwechi (Shot Put)    M

8.      Emmanuel Bamidele (400m)                            M

                   B)     Basketball

1.      Male Team (D’ Tigers)                                      M

c)      Canoeing

1. Bello Ayomide (Women’s Canoe Kayak)   F

d) Rowing

1. Toko Esther (Women’s Single Sculls)                  F

E) Wrestling:     

1. Adekuoroye Odunayo (57kg WW)             F

Paralympics Games

1. Powerlifting