Sports
Throwing Shot Put Excites Me – Gold Medalist
A 2018 National Sports Festival (NSF) shot put gold medalist, Eucharia Ogbukwo, says the game excites her because of her passion for it.
Ogbukwo said this on Monday in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
According to her, I love throwing the iron because I have always considered myself strong for the sport.
“I choose shot put because I love it with passion and it excites me. I have always known that I am a very strong lady from childhood. I just love to throw the iron.
“Though, a lot of people have told me to consider Discus and Hammer but I don’t really have passion for it,” she said.
Ogbukwo who threw a distance of 15.42m at the NSF said her target for the 2019 season was to make the standard for the All African Games and also win a medal, if selected.
“My aspiration in 2019 is to make the All African Games standard and not only making the standard but to also be a medalist.
“ I am very sure that if I train very hard with good facilities, I will win a medal,” she said.
The Mathematics graduate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) said that she wished that shot putters would be given more recognition.
“My dream is for the Federation to remember us and believe in us. We blacks are so strong and if you watch the USA shot put throwers, it is dominated by blacks.
“If only more efforts are put in place to help us we would be more motivated to train harder,” she said.
The athlete who also won it in 2012 said Valerie Adams of New Zealand was her role model.
“My role model is Valerie Adams of New Zealand, she inspires me a lot. Even after she had given birth, she bounced back stronger and continued her dominance,” she said.
The athlete who placed fifth at the 2018 Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) championships in Asaba said that her major obstacle was finance.
She also said that her journey into shot put had not been easy, adding that throwers needed sponsorship.
“My journey has not really been easy; we need help and sponsors in throws.
“As throwers, we train more than five to six hours in a day because we have different training sessions and programmes unlike the runners.
“But my biggest challenge in sports is finance, no money to train properly’’,she said.
Ogbukwo, who began her sports career in 2009 said she couldn’t have achieved her feat without her coaches, Lumen Christi Family, who are always supporting her.
“I felt so great and amazed at my winning in Abuja. I dedicate the medal to my family and coaches for pushing me so hard.
“And above all I dedicate my medal to God Almighty and to Lumen Christi Family where I draw my strength from. Without God I wouldn’t have done it,” she said.
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria ( SWAN) Rivers State Chapter has set up five standing working committees on Tuesday, in its general congress.
At the playoff held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, the team of Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Daniel Adeleye, and Abubakar Yusuf was majestic as they restored Nigeria’s hope in a sport that once gave the country so much joy.
Speaking after the final game, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Victor Ochei, said the Davis Cup feat is the stepping stone to better days in the sport, adding that the federation has set up programmes that will help the budding talents across the country play at the same level as their counterparts in other tennis-developed countries.
Ochei said: “The whole aim of having this new board is to lift the sport to the level we used to be. I tell you, tennis is taking a new shape in Nigeria. We are putting everything and anything to make that work happen.”
Ochei said that the NTF has looked at sponsorships and how to get the emerging players compete at the same level with their peers elsewhere, adding that the federation is working on organising local competitions and helping the players to compete in international championships.
“We believe that with what we are doing now, sponsors will come to us to organise new competitions. But beyond that, there’s a strategic growth development plan, a 10-year development plan, which the board is working on.
“The programme will ensure that we catch them young. This is because we believe that to create champions, we must start grooming them early. The champions you are seeing today were those groomed yesterday.”
“The process of building new champions will include building the coaches, the players, the infrastructure and sensitising the parents so that we can start catching them as young as age five to six.
“By the time that we groom them through 10 years of training, at age 15, 16, you will see fantastic professional players.”
To achieve the federation’s plans, Ochei admits that the NTF needs a lot of investment, adding that the board is working at realising the funds quietly and tenaciously.
The NTF president acknowledged the contributions of former international stars like Nduka Odizor and Sadiq Abdullahi to the bid to rejuvenate Nigerian tennis, adding that NTF is open to collaborating with former players who know what it takes to play at the highest level of the sport.
He said, “Nduka Odizor is around as one of our VIP personalities. He has been psyching up the boys in the battle with Uzbekistan. He will not enter the court to play, but his mere presence is enough motivation to the boys, who will want to be like him in the future.
“You see, the type of support the Odizors, the Imonities and the Abdullahis got in their time is no longer there, but we are revamping it with the support of our stakeholders in the Diaspora.
“It will appear to take us some time, but I can tell you that the Diaspora support is massive.”
In its bid to get good results in this year’s Commonwealth Games, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has disbursed N200 million as training grants to 26 athletes.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NSC stated that the grants were disbursed through its Elite and Podium Board, noting that N200 million was allocated to select top-performing athletes.
The beneficiaries are both foreign-based and home-based, the NSC said, adding that it will cater for their training and preparation expenses.
According to the NSC, the recipients span several sports, including athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and para-sports, in line with the Commission’s mandate to prioritise athletes’ welfare and high-performance development.
The Commission added that the disbursement follows the establishment of the Elite and Podium Board, created to implement a scientific and institutionalised support system aimed at sustaining peak performances by Nigerian athletes at major international competitions.
NSC Director General, Bukola Olopade, said the Commission, under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was established to restore confidence and provide renewed hope for Nigerian sportsmen and women by placing strong emphasis on athlete welfare.
“The training grants disbursed to 26 athletes across different sports followed a careful and professional selection process by the Yusuf Ali-led Elite and Podium Board. This is our way of reassuring our athletes that their welfare remains our utmost priority,” he said.
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