Dakar Gold Rush: Okowa targets bigger athletics success for Nigeria in 2028
By Tosin Omojola
The President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Chief Tonobok Okowa, has said the federation is intensifying efforts to build a strong athletics programme capable of delivering multiple medals for Nigeria at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Okowa disclosed this while reacting to Nigeria’s haul of three gold medals at the ongoing Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, where he commended the young athletes for their impressive performances.
He also revealed that the federation was already making plans for next year’s continental and global competitions across various age categories, noting that Nigeria’s performance in Dakar reflected improvements in grassroots sports development.
The AFN president described Nigeria’s fourth-place finish in the athletics medal standings as commendable. Ethiopia topped the standings with five gold and three silver medals, while China finished second and Kenya secured third place.
Okowa, who is also a senior vice-president of the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), said winning three gold medals was a remarkable achievement, particularly as Nigeria competed with only five athletes at the Games.
He expressed optimism that the country could record even better results at major competitions next year, adding that Nigeria’s medal haul in Dakar could have been higher if all five athletes had won medals in their respective events.
“For us, it was a good outing. Some of the events where we had an advantage did not go our way, and that was not peculiar to Nigeria alone. We went there with about five athletes, and they performed well.
“We can categorically say that the performance shows that our work in grassroots sports development is getting better. We will continue to work hard, and I will not relent in grooming these athletes until they attain stardom. Our target is to win gold medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships. We can only achieve that by working harder and continuously improving Team Nigeria’s athletics section,” Okowa said.
He further disclosed that the AFN was planning a three-phase camping programme for next year, stressing that well-structured preparations were essential to achieving top performances at international competitions.
