Team Nigeria Departs for Beijing Via Seoul This Week 18:47, July 07, 2008
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Team Nigeria departs for Beijing via Seoul this week 18:47, July 07, 2008 Team Nigeria athletes will begin preparations for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games when they depart for Seoul, South Korea this weekend for a training tour and closed camping. Though the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games is Aug. 8, the football event, where Nigeria's male and female teams will participate in, begins on Aug. 6. Patrick Ekeji, the Director of Sports Development in the National Sports Commission (NSC), revealed over the weekend that the commission was putting finishing touches to the team's travel arrangements. Ekeji said the commission sent officials to Seoul and the delegates were satisfied with the state of facilities and the fact that South Korea is near to China is another reason for the choice of the Asian country. He also revealed that over 100 athletes would be traveling to Korea. "We are having that huge number of athletes because in most of the sports, such as weightlifting, boxing and wrestling, the athletes still need sparring partners," he said. "Remember also that the footballers alone are about 44, then we have the coaches and the medical officials." Ekeji hopes that camping in South Korea, the country where the U-17 won the FIFA U-17 World Youth Championship, will rub off positively on the athletes and make them win medals in Beijing. Majority of the athletes, he revealed, would camp in Seoul and other satellites town around the city. Meanwhile, the list of Nigeria's track and field to the Games has been released. The athletes were selected from those that competed at the just concluded Mobil Track and Field Championship. According to a statement from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) over the weekend, new kid on the block, Obinna Metu, tops the list of the 100 and 4x100 meters runners. African record holder in the event and IAAF World Indoor champion, Olusoji Fasuba, who was brought down to earth twice by Adetoyi Durotoye and Metu in the Abuja Permit Meet and the Mobil Championship respectively, was second on the list. Others are Durotoye, Uchenna Emedolu, Chinedu Oriala, Onyeabor Nwaogu and Deji Musa. His inclusion will definitely raise dust. Apart from running the flat, the new Mobil champion, Metu, will also compete in the 200 meters at the Olympics. In the 400 and 4x400 meters, an event that Nigeria is still struggling to qualify for, Godday James, who ran well in the Permit Meet and Mobil Championship, tops the list. Others are Saul Weipogwa, Bola Lawal, Gbenga Awoleye, Victor Isaiah and Femi Ogunode. United States-based Salim Nurudeen is listed in the 110 meters hurdles, while the new queen of the track, Damola Osayomi, is to compete in the women 100, 200 and 4x100 meters races. Others are Franca Idoko, Gloria Kemasuode, Agnes Osazuwa, Halimat Ismaila and Kate Aregunmen. In the women's 400 and 4x400 meters, Folashade Abugan leads the pack, also including Joy Eze, Oluoma Nwoke, Endurance Abinuwa and Gladys Stephen. Two athletes will vie for medals in the 100 meters hurdles - Toyin Augustus and Jessica Ohanaja. Doreen Amata, who won gold in high jump at the All Africa Games in Algiers last year, is also among the list. Blessing Okhagbare (long jump), Chinonye Ohadugba (triple jump) and Vivian Chukwuemeka (shot put) complete the list of 18 women. Olympics and World Championship medalist, Innocent Egbunike, will lead the coaching crew. Egbunike will be assisted by HarrisonMomah, John Obeya, Pat Itanyi, Kola Adebayo and Solomon Abari. The team's head is Falilat Ogunkoya-Omotayo while Sunday Bada is its technical director and Brown Ebewele, camp commandant. "Source: Xinhua" .