The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare has praised athletes over their remarkable performances and sense of professionalism displayed all through the National Open Trial.
Dare who spoke with pressmen at the end of National Open Trial in Lagos, said, “I think that this opportunity to compete in the National trial is critical and that’s why I have said unless you come to the National Trials, you will not make Team Nigeria, and we saw this athletes both home and abroad heeded that clarion call because they love this country and they are patriotic.
“They all came and they came to put up their best and I thank them for that patriotism and their professionalism and I think from this National Trial, we can sit back and start to open in the next 48-72 hours the Nigerian Olympics team that will go to Tokyo 2020.”
He further said, “We have tracked and monitored these athletes over the time, we also watch the world ranking and we know where they stand, I was with them in Dallas Texas, I saw them run against five other countries, some of these athletes are one of the best you have in the world and we can always hope for the best. I’m confident they will make podium performances in Tokyo”, he concluded.
