Why Our Standards are Higher than IAAF’s, By Ogba
With the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil barely six months away, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has thrown more lights on why Nigeria’s entry standards for the track and field events are higher than that set by the International Associations of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
AFN President, Solomon Ogba, told THISDAY on Tuesday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos that the federation deliberately raised the standard to ensure that those going to represent the country at the RIO2016 track and field do not crash out in the first rounds of their events.
“The Olympic Games is not a place for beginners. It is the summit of global sports where only the very best are good enough to represent the various countries. That informed why we at the AFN decided to raise the entry qualifications for the various events,” observed Ogba who was a former sports commissioner in Delta State.
He insisted that despite the hues and cries from a section of the sporting press and athletes, “there is no way we are going to lower the standards because we want the very few athletes that are going to represent Nigeria in Rio2016 to be the type that are capable of making the finals of their various events.
“Take for instance a situation where the champion of the women’s long jump event is a dismal 6.3m jumper. What can that standard fetch Nigeria even if it meets the Olympic qualification standard?” queried the AFN chief.
Ogba also faulted those calling for a closed camp for the Brazil-bound athletes. “Show me one country in the world whose athletes are in camp somewhere preparing for the Olympic Games? None. Because the Olympic Games is meant for elite athletes, they know what to do. Most of them are fine-tuning their programmes with their various coaches and trainers. That is the practice everywhere.”
He however admitted that camping is good for the young athletes who are up coming. “This is what we are doing with the High Performance Centre at the University of Port Harcourt. The results are coming out good with most of these junior athletes doing better than some of the older, established stars. More shocks are coming in the days ahead for any so-called super star who is not sure of him.”
Because Nigeria failed to win any medal at the last Olympiad in London four years ago, the AFN has fixed qualifications for the male and female 100m at 10.09 and 11.10 while the 200m standard is 20.20 and 22.50 respectively. The quarter mile standard is 45.20 and 50.90 for the male and female respectively.