HEAD coach of Nigeria’s wrestling team Purity Akuh is confident his athletes are in good shape for the Tokyo Olympics and ready to make the country proud.
Wrestling is one of the nine sports Nigeria will be represented in at the Tokyo Games which start officially on 23 July.
Five Nigerian wrestlers qualified for the Tokyo Olympics – Odunayo Adekuoroye (women’s 57kg), Blessing Oborududu (women’s 68kg), Aminat Adeniyi (women’s 62kg), Adijat Idris (women’s 50kg) and Ekerekeme Agiomor (men’s 86kg) – and have been intensifying preparations for the Games in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State for over two months, under the guidance of Akuh and his colleagues.
The wrestlers are due to leave for Japan on Tuesday for the final phase of camping ahead of Tokyo 2020, and Akuh is pleased with the training plan of the team as they seek to win Nigeria’s first-ever wrestling medal at the Olympics.
“They (the athletes) are in good spirit,” he said. “When they are staying in an environment where all the needs have been taken care of, their mindset is okay.
“Everything is fine. Medical, the nutrition and everything is perfectly okay. And they are in good shape.
“So, I think when an athlete has rest of mind, when everything he needs is taken care of, I think his mind will be ready to do the job.”
Akuh added that everything has been going according to plan, reiterating that the athletes are on course to excel in Tokyo.
“Training has been very well,” he told NWF media. “We are following our periodization, following everything we have planned, and this is our final preparation.
“For me, my assessment is that the ladies are in good environment.
“The nutrition is well-planned, and we are following the things on our plan, and they are all in good shape. I am very happy that they are all in good shape, avoiding injuries. So, we are good for now.”
The five wrestlers (four women and one man), have been successful at continental and Commonwealth levels and are hoping to make history for Nigeria in Tokyo by winning the country’s first wrestling medals at the Games since no Nigerian wrestler has ever won an Olympic medal.
Incidentally, Nigeria Wrestling Federation President Daniel Igali is an Olympics gold medallist, but he won the medal for Canada at the 2000 Sydney Games after switching from representing Nigeria.
