The Nigeria Olympic Committee said last Tuesday that it had put everything on ground to surpass the achievements of the country at previous Olympics.
President of NOC, Habu Gumel, said this while receiving the reports of committees on its constitution review and the refurbishment of sports infrastructure especially at Amuwo Odofin Olympic Sports Village in Lagos.
Gumel said that 80 athletes had so far qualified for the Olympics while additional five athletes were expected to join the team if they eventually qualify.
“We are calling this meeting to update Nigerians on our preparation for the Olympics scheduled to hold from July 26 to August 11 in Paris and to receive the reports of two committees set up for the progress of NOC.
“On the constitution review, NOC executive committee, the board, general assembly and the International Olympic Committee will look at the report before we say this is our final constitution.
“So far we have about 80 athletes that have qualified for the Olympics and we are preparing the athletes for training outside the country.
“Those outside the country are already training and sports federations like boxing, weighlifting, wrestling and canoeing have started local trainings too.
“Some are in Germany, while some are in America; so, arrangement is on for us to achieve podium success; the Ministry of Sports Development and the NOC are collaborating seriously to achieve success in Paris.
“The last time we won two gold medal was in Atalanta, USA, in 1996, by Chioma Ajunwa, in long jump and the U-23 Dream Team, so, we are working so hard to break the jinx in Paris,” Gumel said.
According to him, winning silver or bronze have never been a challenge to the country’s athletes, but getting gold.