Team Nigeria name 61 for Tokyo 2020

Team Nigeria will depart for the Tokyo  2020 Olympics  in two batches with 61 athletes flying the country’s flag.

Minister of Youth and sports Development Sunday Dare said as much yesterday while  addressing the plenary meeting with National Sports Federations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

“The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020  affected the organisational structures of both the Olympic and Paralympic  Games,” declared Dare.“ 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.

Nigeria has already  qualified 61 athletes across nine sports for the  Olympics including  22 athletes in four  Sports for the Paralympic Games.

The Minister further said that 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.

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 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 8^th  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 contingent.

TEAM NIGERIA  AT GLANCE

OLYMPICS GAMES

24-  Basketball

22-Athletics

3-Badminton

1-Canoe sprint

1-Gymnastic

1- Rowing

1-Taekwondo

1-TableTennis

1-Wrestling

PARALYMPIC GAMES

10- Para Powerlifting

6- Para Table Tennis

5-Para Athletics

1-      Power rowing