Femi Atoyebi
13 March 2008
Lagos — Three Nigerian wrestlers have qualified for the Olympics, after picking up gold medals at the just concluded Senior African cum Olympic Qualifiers Championship held at the indoor hall of the Olympic City in Tunis, Tunisia.
Fighting in 120 kg freestyle category, Wilson Siewari won his fight to book a Beijing Olympic ticket, while Lovina Odholi and Amarachi Obiajunwa joined him in the party, after winning in the 72kg female category fights.
Speaking ahead of the team's return, Nigeria Amateur Wrestling Federation president, Austine Udeze thanked the Chairman National Sports Commission, Alhaji Abdulrahaman Hassan Gimba and his Director General Dr. Amos Adamu for their support towards the championship, while calling on well meaning Nigerians to help the wrestlers as they prepare for the Olympics proper.
The federation scribe, Yemi Usikaye said 21 countries across Africa participated in the four-day championship, with Nigeria's chances suffering through early injuries.
"It was a keenly contested competition. We presented 19 wrestlers in different categories but two potential winners sustained early injuries. The qualifiers' format is also difficult, such that only the gold medalists will be in Beijing. Nigeria actually won five gold medals but two of those are rated non-Olympic qualifying fights."
"There are other medalists, however, Joel Enitimi won silver in the 74kg category, Maria Musa also won silver in 59 kg category. Other silver medalists are Chiwendu Aguihe and Sammy Oziti in 51kg and 48 kg categories. Isaac Boaz, Williams Bassey and Joe Agbonavbare won bronze in 60kg and 84kg categories."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
