By Muhyideen Jimoh
The Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olopade has hailed the performance of the Invited Junior Athletes (IJA) at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival(NSF) in Ogun.
Olopade, who was visibly happy spoke after the medal presentation to IJA swimmer Aidan Abili who has won three medals so far in the swimming competition.
The young swimming sensation won two silver and one bronze.
The NSC introduced the IJA initiative to establish a unique and scientific pathway for transitioning junior athletes to elite status, thereby addressing a gap that existed in Nigerian sports.
Olopade said that the impact the young athletes were making shows a bright future for Nigerian sports.
“It gladdens my heart to see the immediate impact of this new IJA project we initiated at the NSC.
“We decided to give these kids an opportunity to compete at the elite level and so far they are proving that age is only numbers.
“With the performances we are seeing in this Festival, one can only wonder what they will turn in in the years ahead with even more exposure.
” They have shown zero fears at this Games and this is quite commendable,” he said
Abili shortly after the medal presentation thanked the NSC for the opportunity afforded the junior athletes to feature at the NSF.
“I have not participated at this level before. On behalf of the other IJA athletes, I thank the NSC for this opportunity.
” I have learnt quite a lot here. This exposure will surely help me in my career,” he said.
He promised to take advantage of the Gateway Games participation to put Nigeria on the podium in future global events.
“I have my eyes now on the Youth Olympics. After that I will target the Olympics in the years ahead.
” I will do my best to make sure I put Nigeria on the podium in appreciation of this opportunity,” he added.
Abili, a triple gold medalist at the 2024 National Youth Games, won two silver medals in the 50m backstroke and 100m backstroke and bronze in the 200m backstroke.
The IJA are 12th on the medal table with 2 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze, with a total of 8 medals.
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