Samuel Onikeku, the technical director of the Athletics Federation Nigeria(AFN),said the federation was confident of winning multiple gold medals at the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Onikeku who stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday, said he is optimistic the athletes will win gold medals for the country.
“Our athletes are in a good frame of mind and we know that with the recent performances at the African games and world championships.
“We have that confidence that our team will perform well and they are determined to win medals.
“We want our national anthem to be played at the Paris Olympics stadium, that is what we are working hard to ensure that it comes to reality,” he said.
The technical director said 36 athletes are already on the road to the Olympics.
“We’ve qualified for four relays and 14 individual events and there are about 8 athletes too that will stick on the rankings by ranking.
“Between 36 to 40 and more athletes will represent Nigeria in athletics at the Olympics.
“My target is for the athletes to have a personal base for us to be able to win medals.
“We’ve been working towards this for four years and we believe that it will come to pass,”he said.
NAN reports that Nigeria will feature in 11 sports in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics Games.
The president said that the federation`s target is to be on the podium and hear the country`s national anthem being played.
He congratulated the Nigerian team for their wonderful performance at the just concluded championship in Ghana.
NAN reports that Team Nigeria emerged champions at the 2024 Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), Zone II Senior Athletics Championships, which has just ended in Accra, Ghana.
Team Nigeria won 13 gold medals, four silver and one bronze to place first at the championships.
The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Region II seniors’ athletics championship was held from June 3 to June 6 in Accra, Ghana.
According to him, the athletes are determined to make the country proud in their various competitions.
He said the competition also serves as a means of training ahead of the Olympic Games.
NAN reports a total of 88 Athletes have qualified for the Olympics, as many others are still in the qualification process
NAN reports that the 2024 summer Olympics is scheduled to start from July 26 to Aug. 11 in Paris, France.
Paris is the main host city with 16 other cities spread across Metropolitan France and one sub site in Tahiti.(NAN
