Olympics: Okowa, Ogba optimistic about Team Nigeria’s qualification

Tonobok Okowa, the President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) says he is optimistic that the rest of the Team Nigeria’s contingent aiming to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Game will qualify.

He said this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Friday.

The 4 by 400 women qualified for the Olympics at the Lagos State athletics Championships, which held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, unfortunately the men keep missing narrowly.

“I believe that during the next qualifiers this weekend, the men will qualify too for the 4 by 100, this is an improvement compared to what we had at Yaba.

“As long as the time keep improving, there is hope that they will get their qualification and compete at the Olympics,’’ he said.

Sharing similar view is Solomon Ogba, a former president of the AFN, who told newsmen that he was impressed with the athletes’ efforts towards ensuring that they qualify.

“If you were at Yaba, you will know that this was an improvement of what we saw then, and with this result I strongly believe that we will see them do better on Saturday.

“They are eager to qualify, and I strongly believe that they will, if they improve on what we saw here today,’’ Ogba said.

At the semi-final, the 4 by 100 relay men’s team finished at 38.59 and they finished 39. 39 at AFN organised meet at the Yaba College of Technology.